The Spiral of Descent
by Divine-Faithborn
Summary: Naruto didn't understand why he was cursed to walk the deserts alone. He didn't understand why he remembered nothing of his past life. All Naruto knew was that none of the beasts that attacked him would survive - and he hated himself for it. Was there anything more to his to existence than to consume others and become stronger?
1. Descent

Chapter 1 - Descent

* * *

How long had he been falling?

His entire body burned with a dull pain that refused to go away. It was like needles burying themselves into his skin; a thousand paper cuts that endlessly multiplied. Dull, yet sharp pains racked his body and mind as Naruto fell in the endless abyss.

Time lost all meaning as Naruto fell; it was hard to think in the descent. For some reason, he was tired. But, try as he might to rest, the endless torment of pain kept him awake. Amidst the physical pain and the mental weariness Naruto was in a haze of emptiness.

And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

... And so he lost himself...

* * *

Naruto awoke to a terrible hunger, the endless feeling of dread and despair in his stomach. He was kneeling in some strange place, an endless desert beneath a moonlit night. Just moments ago Gaara was carrying him across the battlefield, but now he was resting in the strangest and most empty battlefield.

"Where am I?" he questioned to himself. It was strange but somehow he knew that this world was not the same one that he had come from. Suddenly the hunger came back; it was so strong that Naruto's very insides seemed to twist and turn around him in an effort to sate that hunger. He instinctively reached for his stomach, only to find a strange hole forming in the area where his seal used to be.

"Kurama's gone…" he observed as the hunger grew and grew. His very psyche began to feel strangely empty, as though something important from him was being sucked out. Naruto couldn't quite put his finger on it, but at the same time he knew something was leaving him.

At first he resisted with all his might. Despite his best efforts, the dreadful pull grew larger and larger as it expanded, pulling everything including the dread and hunger out from his mind. No matter how hard he tried to stay together, the consuming pull of his hunger overpowered him.

A mask began to form around Naruto's head, covering his face tightly. At the same time the last vestiges of his memories disappeared and the struggle ended.

As the minutes passed, Naruto never realized that he had forgotten something important, because that importance of memory was no longer important. Only the confusion as to why he was here lingered in his mind.

All around him was an endless desert; a darkened wasteland. Around him there was nothing, and so nothing was what was around him.

With no real sense of direction, he looked around for the briefest of moments. Then he turned to the sky and saw the moon. High above the endless desert the white globe gave him the strangest sense of revulsion. Something was wrong about that moon, and yet he couldn't understand why he hated that moon.

Determined to flee from the moon's sight, Naruto began to walk away from it.

* * *

Naruto didn't realize it at first, but everything around him withered and died.

Occasionally Naruto would pass by a tree or a small animal. Simply walking by them would cause them to waste away in a horrible death throe before their essence burst from their bodies in a fine mist. That same essence would then funnel out of the unfortunate souls and on into him, though Naruto never paid attention to the drain.

As Naruto walked he never paid any attention to the uncaring sands beneath his feet or the animals that he killed subconsciously; the revolting moon above his head drove him into an endless march.

For many cycles of the moon Naruto continued to walk away from the moon, oblivious to the pitiful death wails of whatever he passed. Sometimes he questioned who he was and why he was here in this wasteland. Sometimes he questioned what this wasteland was. In the end, all that Naruto knew was that he was terribly hungry and that there had to be somewhere to escape the moon.

It wasn't until he crossed a large animal that his march was halted. A feral beast slammed down on the sand directly in his path, knocking Naruto off balance. As Naruto was sent backwards the catlike creature began to stalk a circle around Naruto.

"Today's my lucky day." it snarled through a strange skull-like mask on its face. As white as bone, the mask hid the cat-like creature's head and outlined a pair of large fangs. Where the mask ended, the beast began; long, tall, and filled with muscles, the cat was in every sense the apex of predatorial evolution.

"What are you?" questioned Naruto as he found his voice. The creature was big and beautiful and it was dangerous. Lost in his musings, Naruto barely registered the beast hissing and then lunging at him.

Not that it mattered, for the beast fell over dead before it could touch Naruto.

With a lifeless crash, the beast skidded into the sand and threw up a small screen of sand as it became a ragdoll. Then it dissolved into a fine mist that began to flow into Naruto. That was when he realized what had happened.

His hunger was mildly sated.

"I killed him..." Naruto whispered to himself, shocked at the turn of events. "…I killed him and consumed him…"

Suddenly a flow of knowledge invaded Naruto's mind. The memories of the beast became his memories. The constant fight for survival and a daily meal echoed in Naruto's mind. The hopes of becoming something greater reverberated in Naruto's psyche. The sudden realization and fear of death caused a great pain in Naruto's heart.

Confused at the sudden information, Naruto reached for his head with both arms as though to try and hold his head shut – like it would explode if he did not attempt to keep his mind together with physical force. That was when Naruto realized that he too wore a mask.

"Why am I wearing a mask?" He asked himself, confused at the sudden flood of consciousness. Gently he tugged upon it, only to gasp in pain and release his grip.

Lords above! It felt like someone had taken a great massive spike and shoved it straight through him when he attempted to pull off the mask. It was like pulling the mask was the equivalent of ripping out his own heart.

With a stagger, Naruto collapsed to the ground. For the longest time the pain across his very soul couldn't move an inch.

* * *

"Don't come close to me!" Naruto begged the beast in front of him pitifully. It had been hundreds of moon cycles since he had come here. He still couldn't understand why he was here, but the crippling sensation of loneliness was constant in his life.

Naruto had consumed hundreds of other hollows just like the first monster that had attacked him. Through their knowledge he came to understand that he was in a place called Hueco Mundo – a godforsaken desert where only the wretched and tormented lived. Through their memories came a unifying theme of emptiness and loneliness - for they had been able to touch and feel other hollows, even if it was as they consumed them.

Everything simply died as Naruto came close to it.

"And why shouldn't I?" asked a masked juggernaut as it towered over him, "I see a weak morsel, ready for devouring. Why would you deny me of my rightful meal?"

It was always the same deal. Some predator would try and attack Naruto, looking for a quick meal. Naruto would beg for them not to come closer, and then the fools would come closer anyways. They would call him weak, they would charge, and then they would die and become a part of him.

With a guttural cry, the juggernaut lunged for Naruto before evaporating into dust. Tears flowed through Naruto's eyes as he absorbed the beast's powers as his own. He didn't want this. He didn't want to endlessly destroy everything that came close to him.

It was a curse and truly he was a cursed person. Falling to his knees, he cursed his life.

"Why are you crying?"

Abruptly pausing in his tears, Naruto looked up. There, ten feet away from him, stood the most beautiful female centaur. Her long green hair flowed down to the waist of her human body. Her waist seemed to transform flawlessly from that of a human to that of a horse. At the crown of her head rested a strangely beautiful white skull that adorned her in no small similarity to that of a hat or a helmet.

However, most striking of all was the face on the centaur. For once the mask didn't hide away a face, instead it simply crowned her. Two beautiful eyes gazed deep into his soul. A thin smile portrayed both worry and comfort. It seemed that this centaur did not want to eat him.

Caught in the beauty of the magnificent hybrid, Naruto couldn't find the words to describe his newest visitor. But then she took a step closer.

"Stay away!" begged Naruto as he hastily pulled away from the centaur, "You'll disappear like everyone else!"

"What do you mean by that?" asked the centaur as she walked up to Naruto faster than he could shamble away.

"Everyone that gets close dies..." answered Naruto, as he turned away so not to look at the woman when she died before him. "Please stay away for your..."

Naruto paused as the centaur laid her hands on him. For the first time since coming here, he felt the touch of another person. Her hands were soft, and comforting, and all too real in this nightmare of a world.

"H-how?" gasped Naruto in disbelief. Tears of joy came from his face as he watched the centaur sit down in front of him.

She towered above Naruto, and even when sitting down she had to bend forwards to meet him eye to eye. But she did just that, and drew him into a reassuring hug.

"You seem lonely, what's your name? Mine's Nelliel Tu Odelshwanck."

* * *

Her name was Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, although Naruto simply called her Nel. According to her own admission, she was at the very top of the hollow evolutionary chain – she was a Vastos Lorde. In their first meeting after Naruto had finally calmed down she explained that Naruto consumed everything in an attempt to become whole. He was just like the other hollows in Hueco Mundo, only he consumed his power in a different way than most.

But since Nelliel was a Vastos Lorde, she could resist Naruto's aura.

Nelliel was immune to Naruto's life-absorbing aura, a feat that no other hollow could manage. Only after much deliberation and thought did Naruto come to the sad conclusion that Nelliel was right and the consuming aura was his way of feeding and defending himself. And it made sense, for he had never physically touched any other hollow besides Nelliel.

But he could touch Nelliel without hurting her! Nelliel was strong enough to resist the consuming aura that Naruto exuded. Nelliel was a Vastos Lorde and Naruto was a much weaker hollow, probably an Adjuchas – though Nelliel couldn't immediately identify which class he was. Therefore it was only natural that she could resist his hunger.

Naruto could touch her and ride atop her and talk to her and use her to escape the biting loneliness of their empty existence. Nelliel was a font of joy and she gave a meaning to his life in Hueco Mundo. She could fill the void of his loneliness.

Nelliel had taught Naruto that the reason he felt lonely was because all hollows felt the burden of a meaningless existence. Hollows wore their hearts as masks because of some trauma that they had felt while they were living. They cannibalized other hollows in an attempt to fill that loneliness and sorrow, and because of that urge to fill their emptiness they constantly felt hungry. But, despite their greatest attempts, it was only when they found a way to fill that hole that the hunger truly disappeared.

At any rate, that certainly explained why he hadn't ever hungered whenever he was around Nelliel. She filled the hole that loneliness caused him.

* * *

Tonight was the fiftieth moon cycle that the two were together in the desert wasteland. Naruto refused to allow Nelliel to leave his side - her companionship providing him the rock of stability against the overwhelming loneliness he had felt before. Nelliel, for the most part, took the measure in stride and proved to be a good company for Naruto.

"I must hunt Naruto," instructed Nelliel as she took steps out of their temporary cave shelter. The soft crunch of sand beneath her hooves was the only sound in an awkward silence before Naruto finally spoke.

"Promise you'll return Nel?" asked Naruto as he stared at her from his seated position against one of the walls of the cave. He understood why the female had to kill other hollows – she was still hungry. Despite Nelliel filling Naruto's hunger, Naruto could not fill Nelliel's hunger. What filled her hole was something different than companionship.

Naruto would always become sullen and withdrawn whenever Nelliel made leave to hunt but he understood why she had to leave. Though he was never hungry, his consuming aura still existed and it would always absorbed any hollows that came close to them before Nelliel had a chance to sustain herself. Whenever they hunted other hollows together, Naruto would rob Nelliel of her much needed sustenance.

Bowing her head in silence, Nelliel slowly turned around and walked over to Naruto. "I promise that I will return." answered Nelliel as she reached behind his white mask and rubbed his messy blond hair. She kneeled down before Naruto and gave him a quick hug, then released it and made her way out of the cave.

As soft and warm as her words were, Naruto couldn't help but feel the icy grip of loneliness take hold on his very soul. He didn't want to be alone. The thought of eternal solitude pained him more than a thousand bites and cuts. He was hungry whenever he was alone, and he hated that hunger.

It reminded him that he was still a cursed soul.

Four hours later Nelliel returned to the cave, her hunger sated. Still sitting on the ground was the truly pitiable Naruto, the strange hollow that consumed everything around him.

* * *

Another hundred moons passed as Nel and Naruto continued their existence together. Time slowly passed as Naruto grew in stature and intelligence from his constant feeding while Nelliel stagnated. As Naruto grew, Nelliel withered.

But it was a slow process, happening so gradually that Naruto never noticed until the end.

"I'm sorry Naruto. I can't go on." whispered Nel as she collapsed to the sandy ground. Her latest hunt had been unsuccessful, and as such she was forced to return to Naruto hungry.

Naruto immediately rushed to her side. "What do you mean Nel?" he asked as he reached out to steady Nelliel by holding her shoulder. For the many cycles of the moon, Nelliel had been his teacher and friend. She educated him on the ways of the world while relieving him of the burden of being alone.

Naruto always assumed that they would be together forever. She filled his emptiness and had never shown any weakness before. In fact, this was the first time that she had ever said anything close to giving up. This moment was the first time she had ever shown weakness in front of him. It had never happened before.

It was only when Naruto touched the centaur that he realized the horrible truth. His life-consuming aura left burn marks on Nelliel's shoulder. She had lied to him about his hunger. For all the many cycles that they were together, Nelliel had never truly been immune to Naruto's aura. Indeed, Naruto had never been hungry when they were together because Naruto had been constantly feeding off her.

Very slowly, the very essence of Nelliel began to flake off her like a fine dust. She gave him a loving and tender gaze as Naruto tried to pull away. Resisting his attempt to make distance, Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck grabbed onto his hands and refused to let him go. She gasped in pain as the process sped up, but all the while she held the struggling Naruto close.

"Why!?" cried Naruto as he desperately pulled away, "why!?"

"I've... I've always hated my existence." answered Nelliel softly though gritted teeth, "We live a cursed life, destined to hurt others. But at least by being with you, I could escape that lonely and meaningless life - if only for a bit."

"Don't do this!" begged Naruto as Nelliel's essence flowed into him. With it came a flood of knowledge, a rush of Nelliel's memories as Naruto absorbed her.

* * *

Nelliel gasped as she sank her teeth into the hundredth Adjuchas of the cycle. She could feel the power within her bubbling upwards; it was only a matter of time before she evolved. As long as she kept her body safe she would be evolving into a Vastos Lorde very soon.

"Will I finally find meaning?" Nelliel asked herself as she continued to absorb the power of the hollow in front of her. The elephant-like monster had put up quite a fight but in the end Nelliel had tramped his head beneath her feet and crushed his mask.

For the longest time she ate in silence, all the while contemplating what she had done in her past life to deserve an eternity in an endless struggle to exist. Why couldn't she have been born a shinigami? Why did they get to enjoy the zest of life without needing to struggle? When would she finally have a reason to live, other than simply consuming and evolving?

She had run into shinigami before, and she had trampled them beneath her hooves like every other hollow in her path. She had consumed many shinigami before, though their souls provided little sustenance for her growing power.

As she finished the last bites of the monster, she couldn't help but feel strangely full. But she never felt full. In fact, she was so full that she kind of felt sick. It was as though her body couldn't contain the power that she had just consumed.

Wait…

"AUGHHH!" screamed Nelliel as she grabbed her mask. There was a sudden surge of pain as Nelliel's entire body felt as though it was on fire. Her body was changing, muscles snapped and tightened while her frame shrank in size but not power.

"_This is it!" _she thought as the transformation took place. Soon she wouldn't be an Adjuchas anymore. No, as soon as the transformation ended she would be a Vastos Lorde, and then she would be complete.

For what seemed like an eternity, Nelliel Tu Odelshwanck gritted her teeth and bore the pain of the change. But it was worth it when the transformation was complete.

"I'm so powerful." She noted with a smile as she observed her hands. They were much smaller but so much stronger. "I cannot believe it finally happened!"

In a motion of pure joy, Nelliel bucked upwards onto her hind legs before firing a cero into the air. The blast of power was so strong that it scorched the very air around her and whipped it into a surge of flames.

But just as quickly as the joy came, so did the horrible truth.

She was still empty.

Despair set in as Nelliel slowly realized that even in the end, no matter how strong she became, she would always feel the emptiness of living without a purpose. She would never feel completed, like a shinigami, and she would always have the instinctual need to cannibalize other hollows for her own power.

There was truly no other reason for her existence, other than to exist.

* * *

It was with great sadness that Nelliel came to the conclusion that her life was worthless. All that her life amounted to was hunting and feeding. She had no reason to exist.

For ages she had constantly been searching for a meaning to her life. The centaur had always questioned why she was born the way she was, as a hollow. At first she had chased the fleeting goal of evolution in hopes that it would provide her with a meaning for her life. She had always hoped that she would eventually find something worth living for.

But evolution was not that answer. Her evolution from a regular hollow to a Menos Grande had given her a desire to become stronger. Her evolution from a Gillian to an Adjuchas had filled her with the hope that there was a meaning to exist in the next evolution. Her evolution from Adjuchas to Vastos Lorde had taken away that hope, for there was nothing left to strive for.

Her meaning for living was a fleeting goal that, in the end, left her with nothing but the bleak realization that life as a hollow had no meaning.

"Don't come closer to me!"

The pitiful cry of another hollow roused her from her reverie. Saddened by what sounded like the passing of another hollow, Nelliel bowed her head and waited for the death scream. Death was the rule of Hueco Mundo and, as much as she wanted to distance herself from it, she could not help the poor amalgamation of souls that was about to die.

But that death wail never came. Instead, only a faint sound of tears carried over the wind.

Confused, Nelliel couldn't help but follow the sound of tears to the source. There she saw the most pitiful sight she had ever seen.

A young hollow no larger than a boy was sitting and crying alone in the sand. There was some evidence of a fight, but the hollow was completely unharmed and there was no corpse around him. But hollows never cried – they only consumed others.

"Why are you crying?" she asked simply as she walked towards the boy. As Nelliel got close, she immediately knew what had happened. The hollow had some form of life-consuming aura around him that ate everything. Even now as she passed into its range she felt the dull, gnawing, pressure of the aura as it attempted to consume her.

But she was strong so she simply shrugged it off.

"Everyone that gets close to me dies…" the boy said in a pitiable tone. No doubt he was still confused as to why he was here. He was alone, confused, and completely miserable.

It was at that very moment that Nelliel had an epiphany. Just like her, this hollow had no reason to live. It would be a mercy to kill the boy, but she would only condemn him to live on as a part of her. Since Nelliel had no purpose for living, why not use her life to give someone else's life meaning?

She knew she would die if she stayed by his side long enough, but she had no reason to live anyways. But that didn't matter. Since she had no purpose, she would at least give someone else a purpose. At least, she could try. That would be her purpose and reason for existing.

Reaching down, she touched the boy's shoulder and changed the Naruto's life. She didn't realize it at the time, but he also touched her life.

* * *

As time passed, Nelliel began to enjoy her life as a hollow. Sure, she still needed consume other hollows to feed herself, but with Naruto it seemed like every moment was something to cherish. The boy was an endless font of questions and enthusiasm; it reminded her of an innocence that human children carried inside of their minds.

"What do I look like?" he asked one day as he rode on her back. They had been together for a few cycles of the moon, and in all that time he had asked her many questions – but this was the first time he had asked about what he looked like.

"Well, where do I start?" asked Nelliel rhetorically, "You're a lanky human hollow and you're far too skinny for what's normal. You look very weak."

"Hey!"

"But, despite all that, I'm sure that you're very beautiful underneath that mask. You have a nice, if unruly, head of bright yellow hair. It looks very much like the sun."

"The sun?"

"_Oh, right," _remembered Nelliel as she continued to walk beneath the moon. Naruto had never visited the human world. Hueco Mundo was the only world that he knew. "The sun is a brilliant and warm ball of fire in the sky of the human world. Unlike the moon in Hueco Mundo, it fills the world with life."

"Can we go see it?"

Though Naruto couldn't see her face, Nelliel was biting her lip. Of course Naruto would want to go see the sun in the human world, he was curious of everything. But she couldn't simply take him to the human world, there were shinigami there and they would obviously notice the overwhelming power that Nelliel exerted. It would be a disaster.

"I'm sorry Naruto, maybe later." she replied in as honest a tone as she could. It hurt to lie to Naruto, but he would eventually understand why they could never visit the real world.

"Okay…"

Maybe one day, when she became a part of him, Naruto would be strong enough and mature enough to venture into the human world. Maybe he would find someone else to protect and cherish. Maybe Naruto would give someone else's life meaning just as she had given meaning to Naruto's life.

* * *

It hurt to know that one day she would cease to be an individual, but it comforted her to know that at least she would continue to exist as a part of her friend.

The memories continued on and on in a steady onslaught of the past.

Time's passage and the many memories. The friendship between the two. The joy of finally having a purpose. The loneliness kept at bay. The guilt that she was lying about being unaffected by him.

The growing weakness. The sad resolve that her death was inevitable. The fear that when she was gone Naruto would be left alone once again. The desire to be with Naruto until the end. The knowledge that she would rather die than face a lonely and empty existence.

At least now her death had meaning. She would live on forever with Naruto. It was her desire to at least have left an impact on the world, if only through one person that would remember her as she became a part of them.

"Don't go Nel. Please don't go..." begged Naruto as Nelliel released her grasp on him and fell to her side. Quickly, Naruto caught her and cradled Nel in his arms. They both ignored the burns that were popping up wherever Naruto touched Nelliel.

The centaur girl weakly traced her fingers around Naruto's mask, a sad smile on her face. "Don't... Weep for... Me..." she asked of Naruto, "I'll live on... Through... You..."

Slowly Nelliel closed her eyes and faded into an ethereal dust as the last of her being flowed into Naruto. He couldn't make any comment as he felt the strangest mixture of emotions flowing through him because of Nel. He felt unending sorrow, the depths of his despair unmatched. But, despite all of that, he felt a fluttering longing for Nelliel in his soul.

He could feel her inside of him urging him to be strong; but he couldn't be strong without Nelliel. For an eternity of the cycles of the moon she had given him a reason to exist, to brighten up her life and for her to brighten up his life. Because of her he no longer dreaded the moon and he no longer felt alone. But now she was gone – forever a part of him – and he wanted her back; simply having her as a part of his soul wasn't enough.

For Naruto, that longing for Nelliel was far more than a friendly desire to be with her.

Was it love?

What was love, truly?

Unable to take the grief of murdering his only friend and important person in the world, Naruto gripped his mask tightly. With a grim determination he pulled it away from his face.

Nelliel had once warned him about taking off his mask. She claimed that taking it off would destroy his soul, for every hollow wore a mask to hide their anguish. Not even Nelliel could remove her white bone crown.

Pain screamed through his body as he continued to pull against his mask. It felt like he was cutting up his own soul to remove the mask. If he continued to rip it away, Naruto knew that his soul would simply explode into essence and he would die.

But that was fine. What was the worth of an empty existence? Nelliel had found her resolve to live the empty existence through him, but he couldn't find any resolve to continue on without Nelliel.

Naruto knew that Nel would be disappointed in him. He could feel the echoes of her soul begging him to stop. But it didn't matter, for Naruto would rather dash himself upon the rocks and end it now than face a life without meaning; a life without Nelliel.

After what seemed like an eternity of bathing himself in lava, Naruto's mask finally gave away. It ripped off his soul and crumbled to dust as he pulled it off of his face. The pain overwhelmed him as his soul seemed to escape from his body - so much so that he fell to the ground in pain.

And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

... And so he lost himself...

* * *

Naruto remembered the horrible pain of loneliness, when the other villagers ignored him and whispered behind his back.

Naruto remembered trying so hard to make the villagers love him, but he didn't know how to make them love him.

Naruto remembered the joy in finding the grandfatherly Hiruzen Sarutobi and the love from someone who didn't have to give him the time of day but did - Iruka Umino.

He remembered team seven and their mission to wave country. He worked so hard to learn how to walk on trees. Then he met Haku and the masked assailant who had punched Sasuke full of holes with his senbon.

"Naruto!"

Abruptly the spiral of descent and the flood of memories ended as the voice in his ears pulled him back to his reality. But he recognized that voice, and that voice was now and forever a part of him.

"Wake up Naruto!" screamed Nelliel as she violently shook Naruto awake. Back and forth she rocked him as his head jerked around without resistance.

"I'm alive..." Naruto gasped as he filled his lungs with oxygen. "I'm alive... I- you're alive!"

Naruto could scarcely believe his eyes as his longtime companion gave him a bone crushing hug. He felt his shoulders separate painfully as she bent him backwards in an unexpected show of affection. One rib broke, and then another. Finally a third rib cracked before Nelliel released her death grip on him.

"I heard you calling to me from inside your soul," replied Nel with teary eyes as she slowly eased away to hold him at a close arm's length, "you would rather cease to exist than exist without me. How could I not come back to you?"

Stunned and shocked, Naruto couldn't help but note the fact that Nelliel had changed. Instead of being a centaur, Nel had two very human feet. Though the feminine body remained the same from the waist up, her waist no longer curved into the body of a horse. Indeed, she was a beautiful human with long green hair that reached the floor.

"You're not a centaur anymore…" Naruto started before abruptly being cut off.

The hard palm of Nelliel's hand snapped across Naruto's face with all the force of a rock slide. There was an audible crack as the force twisted Naruto's neck harshly to the side.

"Don't ever do that again," begged Nelliel as she once again hugged her friend. Tears were in her eyes as she hugged him fiercely. "If you died, I would have no reason to live!"

"What..." asked Naruto in surprise. His cheek stung like hell from the force of Nelliel's palm, but he wore a mask to protect it. Only he definitely felt Nelliel's palm against the skin of his face.

Confused, he reached upwards to feel his mask but then remembered that he had pulled it off. He only paused for a split second before touching his cheek. There was no mask there.

"I... I promise I won't do that again…" swore Naruto as he moved his hands down from his face to Nelliel's shoulders in an embrace. At least for now, they both had a reason to exist.

* * *

**(A/N) I needed a break from my other stories. I've always wanted to try my hand at at writing a Naruto/Bleach crossover and I've been building the outline and resources for a while. The story is going to be shortish, ranging at about 5 chapters and 25k words when complete. There will be lots of time skips and there may be a disjointed feeling, though I'll try to keep it to a minimum. Each chapter will cover an important part of the story and build on several themes, try and spot them if you can!**

**Also, this chapter has some very dark themes in it that are very close to suicide and many self-loathing tendencies. It will get better, but I wanted to say that if you're ever in a bad situation or a bad spot in life and you need someone to talk to, I will always have an open inbox for you. **


	2. Introspection

Chapter 2: Introspection

* * *

What were they? That was the question.

Before the change, they knew that they were both hollows. After the change, however, they weren't quite sure what they were. While they still retained elements of their masks and their former bodies, they were both humanoids with shinigami swords that lacked a hollow hole.

Gone was the empty feeling of living a life with no meaning. Instead they both knew that they lived for the other, and that knowledge was the most filling thing in the world. It changed them and gave them a reason to live.

The physical changes confusing at first for Nelliel, as she had to become accustomed to walking on two feet and fighting with a blade. She still had her crimson line beneath her eyes and her long green hair and they were both still topped by a beautiful bone crown that resembled a cartoonish skull that adorned her head. The mask, however, had shrunk significantly from what it was on her past self. Instead of looking like a helmet, the skull highlighted and exemplified her beauty like a beautiful crown. With the change to her body also came a brown cloth cloak that wrapped around her body, covering her rather large chest and lithe frame. She also had a thin and long Spanish dress sword resting in a scabbard that was buckled to her waste by a belt.

For Naruto, his blank mask had disappeared in favor of a thin plate of bone on his forehead with an indention in the shape of a symbol that neither of them understood. While he had always been humanoid in shape, he gained a few inches in height and was much less gangly than his current form. Naruto wrapped his body in a brown cloak, though his had a pair of orange stripes running down the back.

Naruto also carried a blade, though his was a much smaller and almost dagger like blade that resembled an ancient Japanese kunai.

Beyond mere physical changes came changes to their nature. Nelliel could scarcely believe it, but she didn't hunger for other hollows nearly as much anymore. Likewise, Naruto's consuming aura disappeared as well. Both of them still had the passing hunger and the need for sustenance, but it wasn't a consuming hunger where they felt the instinctual need to cannibalize other hollows.

"Catch me if you can!" laughed Naruto as he sprinted over the landscape, he vaulted effortlessly over a small and surprised hollow as he continued running without stopping. Behind him ran an equally excited Nelliel, her long green hair flowing in the wind as she tried to catch up to her best friend.

"Damnit Naruto, wait up!" shouted Nelliel between breaths. In the back of her mind she could sense the joy in Naruto's heart as he dashed through the desert in an endless race.

It was strange to think that for hundreds of cycles of the moon she had learned to resist the screams of the damned souls that made up her essence. But now, as they were no longer hollows, those voices were gone. Instead, inside her mind, there was only Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck. Never before had she ever felt such clarity in her identity.

Beyond that clarity of self, Nelliel felt an instinctual knowledge that Naruto was nearby. She could sense the joy in his steps and the adrenaline rushing through his body.

Naruto also shared this link. Perhaps it was a side effect of once being a part of Naruto's soul. Perhaps it was because they were destined to be soul mates. Perhaps they both shared one soul that simply existed in two bodies. Either way, both of them had agreed that it was too confusing a question to answer. They would simply have to be content with sensing the emotions of the other in the back of their mind.

"You'll have to be faster if you want to catch me!" taunted Naruto as he turned his body so that he was running backwards. While still running at full speed, Naruto pulled an eyelid down and blew Nel a raspberry.

He ran backwards just as quickly as he ran forwards, something that irked Nelliel to no end. It seemed like he was so adept at running away that he could never be caught. Even now, during their game of endless tag, Naruto was pushing the boundaries on what should be possible by jumping into the air and running several meters above the ground.

_"You've got to be kidding me..."_ thought Nelliel with no small exasperation. How in the hell was he able to do that?

When they were hollows, Nelliel was always the stronger of the two. She was the Vastos Lorde and she had always done any physical fighting. Now that they were more than hollows, it was only natural that Nelliel was the stronger member of the duo.

That being said, Naruto was far and away the faster member of the pair. During their game of endless tag, Naruto would run until he got bored before slowing down in order to let Nel catch him and then he would chase her until she could run no more.

They both knew that the game of endless tag was just a way to run from their questions and uncertainties, but for the time being they were simply content to enjoy their newfound statuses as something more than hollows.

* * *

"I'm bringing you back to Konoha!"

Two flashes of light; one of thunder and one of the sky. A fierce battle at the war zone of their ancestors. One man, a child, standing tall as he pulled his arm out of his best friend's chest. For the sake of power, he would kill his own best friend.

And yet he didn't.

"Sasuke!"

Naruto awoke with a start as he bolted upright. Shock and terror laced his body with endorphins as memories of a life long since passed surged through him. With an almost unconscious effort, Naruto pulled his arm to his chest, surprised and scared to find the remnants of a scar just above his heart.

It was with mixed relief and anxiety that Naruto realized that those were simply memories of his past life. He wasn't at the Valley of the End and he wasn't bleeding out into the river. No, the blond soul was sitting alone in a cavernous shelter next to a slowly dying fire.

Last night it had been Naruto's idea to run up one of the many mountains of Hueco Mundo during their game of endless tag. The air was nice and cool in the mountains compared to the desert far below, and the chill wind made the night both pleasant and cold. But, that being said, they never expected it to start snowing in a blizzard in Hueco Mundo

However much they refused to believe it, apparently it did rain and snow in Hueco Mundo. You just had to go up high enough to where the latent Reiatsu was thin enough to not split the precipitation apart. But the snow hadn't stopped Naruto from leading Nelliel all the way up through the mountain on a wild chase through the blinding snow.

In fact, it was a miracle they had even found a shelter near the top. The combined elements and thin Reiatsu were beginning to wear on them after the seventh cycle of tag. It allowed them to warm up and rest while watching the snow continue to fall outside.

"Are you okay?" inquired Nelliel's soft voice. Slowly, Naruto turned to find her at the entrance of the cavern. The busty greenhair carried the remains of a dead hollow over her shoulder and had large gathering of dead tree limbs under her right arm. Apparently she had gotten hungry and decided to hunt while Naruto slept.

"_She must have just finished her hunt,"_ Naruto observed, for there was a thin layer of snow that dusted her brown cloak. She approached the fire next to Naruto and dropped the logs carefully to rebuild the flames. Then she butchered the hollow and set several steaks upon her dress sword and created a makeshift cooking spit.

For the longest time Naruto fought to find the proper words to his quandary. He would open his mouth to start talking, only to pause at the first syllable. It wasn't until his fourth or fifth false start that Nelliel abandoned her duties and moved to comfort Naruto.

"Just tell me what's wrong." instructed Nelliel as she took a knee and placed a comforting arm on Naruto's shoulders. Their eyes made contact for a long moment and both of them felt the contact of their souls as Nelliel did her best to reassure Naruto.

Eventually Naruto broke the eye contact by closing his eyes and hanging his head. "I... I think I remembered how I died." he answered, "I remember fighting and dying and it scares me."

Nelliel frowned before pulling Naruto's head into her chest. With her hands pulling him into her she hugged him deeply, a tear in her eye. She could feel his terror and his sorrow. In many ways she was fortunate for having no memories of her past. Naruto was not as lucky.

In fact, Nelliel could vaguely remember the details of Naruto's past. Now that she knew what to look for, she could feel the memories of the battle at the valley of the end as though they were a fleeting dream. But they weren't a dream - it was how Naruto believed that he had died.

Nelliel rubbed her hand over Naruto's hair in a loving manner, "You're not dead Naruto," she assured him before taking a seat next to the blond, "you just moved on from living as a human."

The wind outside the cavern continued to howl but the two shared souls stayed together by the fire. The flames flickered and crackled as the two rested beneath soft makeshift covers; romantic shadows being cast upon the walls. The steaks of the hollow slowly roasted above the flames, not needing any attention.

Eventually Nelliel draped an arm across his shoulders and pulled him next to her until the two were touching shoulder to shoulder. As Naruto embraced the warm hold, he was comforted by the fact that he wasn't alone. Nelliel had promised that she wouldn't leave Naruto's side and in turn Naruto promised that he wouldn't leave Nelliel's side.

How hard had he fought for recognition when he was a human? How desperately had he longed for the love of another person? He had tried so hard to make someone – anyone – love and appreciate him; but according to his memories he had failed.

In many ways, he was far more complete now than he ever was as a human. Naruto had a friend and a loved one, and he didn't have to constantly prove anything to Nelliel. They were friends because they had shown each other kindness, and they shared a bond that transcended words.

But why, for as much as he tried to put the thoughts to res, was he still tormented by these memories of his past? Why did he feel as though he had failed?

He remembered being alone in the village and being alone in the desert before meeting Nelliel. They were memories of a life he couldn't escape. They were both ethereal and haunting.

But did they really matter? They were of his life then, but Nelliel and Hueco Mundo was his life now. Naruto didn't have anything to prove to anyone anymore and, while that did take a way a bit of the meaning of his past life, it gave Naruto a little closure that his life as a human didn't make him any less of a person now.

Nelliel seemed to sense Naruto's discomfort. For Naruto continued to brood in his memories until Nelliel gave him a sharp squeeze on the shoulder.

"Why don't we visit the real world soon," whispered Nel reassuringly as she continued to hold him tight, "We'll find Konoha and create closure for your past."

Somehow, deep inside his heart, Naruto knew that even if he returned to Konoha he would only find more questions than answers.

* * *

It had taken Nelliel quite a bit of coaxing, but eventually Naruto had acquiesced to Nelliel's plan of visiting the real world. With a small plan set about, Nelliel created a garganta and guided Naruto on their way to their first trip to the human world as a pair.

They landed near a city called Madrid and, while they couldn't find any evidence of Konoha, they had discovered quite a lot about the human culture. It was quite advanced compared to the last time that Nelliel had been to the human world. Of course, Naruto just had to take her word for it as the only world he remembered was one with ninjas and magical techniques that made very little sense.

They discovered clothing that fit them and looked far better than their dull brown cloaks and the food that they had stolen from the restaurants was significantly better than any potential hollows that they might have had to eat. Times were certainly changing in the early 1900s Spain, and they couldn't help but be caught up in the marvel of the human world that Hueco Mundo lacked.

Nelliel was wearing a quaint white dress while Naruto had adopted a fashionable suit and tie of sorts and each of them had more than a few bags full of different knickknacks and souvenirs from their trip that could decorate their cavern in the everlasting snow. Most importantly, after visiting a library, they had finally settled on a name to call themselves.

Arrancars – or ripped masks. It was an allusion to their past selves as hollows while also identifying them as something far more than just a hollow.

Still, all good things had to come to an end.

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck breathed slowly as she ran her dress sword through one of the many shinigami soldiers. It was a shame that Nelliel and Naruto had to fight while in the human world, but the agents of soul society had found them while they were in the human world.

Apparently, though, Soul Society hasn't expected to run into Nelliel and Naruto because the shinigami sent to deal with them were rather worthless. All the shinigami had going for them was the fact that they were around a dozen or so in number. None of them had a strong spiritual pressure and not one of them was smart enough to release their zanpokuto.

"We don't have to fight," Naruto yelled as he blasted a spiraling cero into one of the twelve attackers, "just let us be and we'll leave you alone."

His words fell upon deaf ears as Naruto's cero passed straight through the man, evaporating the shinigami's entire head. Around Naruto several more shinigami leapt into action before Nelliel cut them down with a quick use of Sonido and sword skills.

Strange, how neither she nor Naruto had ever learned how to so things like using a Sonido, solidifying the reiatsu at their feet, or making a garganta. They simply knew by instinct how to do them.

"Stop the hollows before they destroy the city!" ordered the leader of the group, an overconfident man with a white band of cloth on his arm. Clearly he was the group's leader because of the way the other shinigami listened to him. Still, none of them thought it would be a smart idea to release their power or transform their zanpokuto into the shikai form.

Nelliel simply sighed as the adrenaline ran through her. With one swift motion she pulled her sword out of the shinigami that she had impaled and used her sword to parry an attack from an interloper. From her parry she twisted her blade and ran it along the edge of her immediate opponent's sword. Her dress sword easily sliced through the man's zanpokuto and onwards into his chest.

Two more movements and three shinigami were down for the count, limbs being removed with frightening ease courtesy of Nelliel's sword.

It was strange to consider the fact that neither she nor her soul mate had ever practiced their sword skills in anything more than passing play. And yet both of them were butchering the shinigami crowd without challenge. Perhaps it was a testament to how strong they were.

Perhaps it was a testament to how badly the shinigami sent by the Soul Society sucked.

A skilled parry followed by a merciless riposte and one more shinigami was down, his heart being punctured clean through by Nelliel's dress sword. While Naruto had killed two or three of the shinigami with his dagger, Nelliel had just finished cleaving through her ninth opponent.

As the man fell Nelliel felt the killing intent of one of the last shinigami remaining. He attacked from her back and she wouldn't be able to put up a guard in time. Nelliel knew that she could use Sonido to dodge the blow but the tingling feeling in the back of her mind told her that she didn't have to.

In a crackle of light, Naruto snapped the man's blade in two with his own Kunai. A precise stab cut straight through the metal had killed any momentum that the surprise attack had. A continuation of the stab through the chest had killed any momentum that the man had. With a gurgle, the leader of the shinigami attack force collapsed and died on the spot.

Sensing no more killer intent, Nelliel grabbed a cloth from a nearby street vender's cart and wiped her blade clean of shinigami blood. It was fortunate that the humans couldn't see the battle that had happened right before their eyes, if they could all sorts of chaos would have erupted in the streets of Madrid.

But any death was something to detest. Was there any way to escape the violent nature of the struggle between souls? Even if the shinigami were supposed to be the enemy of hollows, it still hurt her to kill anyone and deprive them of the right to live. The right to live and have a purpose was a fundamental right for anything with sentience, be it a human, hollow, or shinigami.

"I think we need to leave." instructed Naruto as he gathered the various broken swords up in a bundle and deposited them in a bag. "Soul society will probably send more shinigami to investigate."

Silently the two arrancars gathered their belongings, created a garganta, and returned to their cavern in Hueco Mundo. Little did they know that a single shinigami with brown hair and glasses continued to watch them.

* * *

High atop their snowy retreat in Hueco Mundo, Naruto was beginning to doubt that he would ever find Konoha. If the village still existed then it was clearly hidden from the maps. But their continual inability to find Konoha wasn't from a lack of trying, as Nelliel and Naruto had traipsed all across the human world without success.

"Where do you want to look next time?" asked Nelliel lazily. The green haired beauty was dressed in a cozy nightgown while sitting in a posh recliner that they had picked up from one of their many excursions into the human world. Her feat rested on the hearth of a fireplace that they had gotten the inspiration to build during recently. In her hand was a half empty glass of French wine.

"I'm not sure anywhere will give me the answers I need, Nel. And that scares me." replied Naruto as he looked over their cavern. Over the years they had filled it up with so much stuff that the place looked far more like a home than a rocky shelter. "We've been to so many places and taken so many things that I doubt we'll ever find Konoha."

No matter how hard Nelliel and Naruto looked for the answers to Naruto's past, they came up empty. They couldn't find any evidence of Konoha or the Elemental Nations at all, and it was quite disconcerting. Even worse, whenever they looked they only dredged up more of Naruto's memories.

They were memories that confused and haunted him. They were something clearly important to identifying who Naruto was as a person, but at the same time they were gloriously useless because Naruto wasn't who he used to be. Naruto was once a human, once a hollow, and now something more. He was sad that he couldn't remember much about Shikamaru or Iruka, but he was happy to have Nelliel. Through her, Naruto could attempt to rebuild a semblance of some identity that was unique to him.

Their cavernous shelter in the mountains was a testament to that.

In many ways it was a home - ever since they discovered it they had spent their time in Hueco Mundo amongst the snow filled mountain. For as much as the sky snowed and seemed to trap them in the cavernous home, it was nothing like the bleak wasteland of the desert far below them. It was also a museum of their travels, for each time they traveled they brought something back with them to decorate the cave.

There were many great Persian blankets draped across the entrance that closed the cavern off from the wind. They were souvenirs from a trip to Afghanistan.

A massive wardrobe from France contained clothing from many different countries for both of them.

A sword stand came from Japan. The large wooden frame held hundreds of broken shinigami blades as trophies and reminders of the fragility of life.

Naruto was resting in a massive king-sized bed that they had stolen from Buckingham Palace in England. Just getting it out of the King's room and through the garganta without anyone seeing them had been fun.

The list could go on and on; hundreds, if not thousands, of different objects came from all over the human world. Each one represented a fun adventure and memories of Nelliel's and Naruto's adventure together.

But with each object came a painful reminder of the failure to find his past. In fact, each trip seemed to make the memories worse. He remembered the fun days with his godfather Jiraiya before the man was killed by Pain. It was the first real time that Naruto had ever encountered death while he had still been a human.

He once made the mistake of calling his memories the useless reminders of when he was alive but Nelliel had been quick to remind him that he was still alive - just changed.

But for all his memories and their slow return to him, Naruto remembered nothing after being defeated by Pain's Deva path. The last memory of his human life was when he was staked down to the earth by Pain's chakra rods.

"What are we doing Naruto?" asked Nelliel as she pulled herself from her chair and walked over to Naruto's bed. There she deposited herself gracelessly before falling backwards onto Naruto's legs. It was the second cycle of a perpetual blizzard that blanketed the mountain with snow and locked them inside of the cavern.

Naruto didn't know how to respond to her comment. "What do you mean Nel?" he asked, careful not to overstep his bounds. There were many ways that he could interpret her question, but he did not have the answers to any of them. If the situation was anything like the last time she had asked him, it wasn't going to end well.

"I mean everything," she replied in a listless tone, "We aren't making any progressed in finding Konoha and I'm beginning to think that we never will."

"_I wish I knew what to say..." _thought Naruto as he realized all too late where the conversation was going. On their many travels, there was always one thing in common throughout all the different cultures that they had visited. They never made any progress. Normally he was the person saying that and Nelliel was the one to keep him moving forward.

Had she finally given up?

When Naruto didn't respond she continued. "I know that finding your past is important to you, and it's important for me to help you find it. But how long can we keep searching for it? Every time we look it only makes your memories worse and it pains me to feel your pain. Are your memories worth having if they only bring you pain?"

Naruto sighed as Nelliel's words resonated within him. Nelliel was only suggesting that they give up searching because she was tired of seeing him suffer.

Her worries echoed with his own worries and anxieties. At first when he had become an Arrancar with Nelliel he had been happy, but now that he was recovering his memories the blond felt constantly tormented by them. The memories came back to haunt him like a curse; Naruto had dreams and goals that became lies when they failed to come true.

No, they hadn't become lies. They had become something worse.

"And that's the thing," continued Nelliel, "your life in Konoha is important but what about me?"

Naruto's neck made an audible crack as he twisted it around to look at Nelliel. In a completely unexpected topic shift, Nelliel transitioned from Naruto to Nelliel.

"What?" asked Naruto in confusion.

"When you consumed me, I felt happy to be a part of you. It felt as though I had found my true home. But now that I'm separate from you again I want desperately to return to you; I want to be with you. I want to help you and I want to protect you. I want to love you and become lost in that love. But you don't look at me the same way."

Naruto sighed as a horrible awkwardness seemed to drape itself over the cavern. This hasn't been the first time that Nelliel had brought up the topic of romance. It was, however, the most inconvenient time that Nelliel had brought up romance.

"I do love you Nel, you know that."

Naruto didn't claim to know many things, but one thing he did know was that whenever he looked at Nelliel he couldn't help but feel a strange sensation in his heart that made him nervous but joyful. She was the first hollow to rescue him from the pits of eternal loneliness and she had even sacrificed her own life so as not to leave Naruto alone again. In many ways, Naruto felt indebted to her. There was no way that he could repay her for everything that she had done for him.

On a deeper level, there was something about her resonated in the knowledge that she had once been a part of his soul. There was something intangible that comforted him in knowing that she had shared the most intimate of relationships with him already; for they had once been two parts of the same soul – and in all likelihood they probably were still two parts of the same soul.

Was that feeling love?

But could it really be love if he was looking at a different facet of his soul?

"I don't know exactly what our relationship is, but…" continued Naruto after a long and uncomfortable silence. With nothing left to lose he simply laid his cards out upon the table. Surely Nelliel would understand his feelings, after all - it wasn't like she couldn't.

"… Whenever I look at you Nelliel I feel like I'm looking at a piece of my soul. I love looking at you and I want to love you; but at the same time I question if it would be right. I consumed you and I can't help but wonder if the only reason you feel that love is because of the time when our souls were merged."

Nelliel's palm connected with his face angrily as she slapped him with all of her might. She knew that Naruto was having guilt issues but this was simply going too far.

"I assure you Naruto, that I am far more than I once was. I love you because you completed me and filled a hole that I would not have been able to fill myself."

"But if I hadn't consumed you, would you still have these feelings for me?"

Nelliel sighed heavily as she began to lean against Naruto. Her long green hair tangled with his bright blond hair to form a bright mixture that offered at least a little color to the tense atmosphere. She forgot her anger, her will resolved to instead comfort the worried soul.

"Does it really matter that I'm a part of your soul?"

Sensing Naruto's discomfort and anxiety over the situation, Nel slowly raised an eyebrow before tracing her fingers over Naruto's body. It sent an electric surge across Naruto that echoed in Nel's mind and gave her an idea of how to break them out of the melancholy that had come over him.

"I think that, if we had been humans or shinigami, I still would have liked to get to know you." she whispered into his ear. "It doesn't matter if I've been changed by you or if you were changed by me because that change was for the better. If the situation could play out again, I wouldn't change anything Naruto. You know that."

"… I know that…"

Nelliel smirked softly as she laid a gentle kiss on Naruto's lips. This was something she had been meaning to try with Naruto for a while now. Ever since they had first visited the human world at Madrid she couldn't help but notice the various humans romancing each other. It was a beautiful concept and it was something that she had been meaning to try out for herself.

She knew that Naruto was attracted to her physically, she had seen the glances. She also couldn't deny her attraction to Naruto either. He was lean but well-muscled and his blond mop of hair was cute. He also had the most attractive 'never say die' attitude that continued to shine through his struggles with his memories over his human life.

Maybe it was because they were two parts of the same soul, but Nelliel really did want to see how deep those bonds would run. In the end, being two parts of the same soul didn't really sound bad at all. It gave her a reason to live.

Very soon the cold winds of the storm outside the cavern and the warm fireplace were ignored in favor of exploration of their souls.

* * *

The warm rays of the sun bathed the faces of the two arrancars as they sat at the very top the Eiffel Tower. It wasn't the first time they had been to the monument in France but it was certainly one of the nicer times. Between the good company, good wine, and good food there was little doubt that the day had been going especially well.

The fact that for once Nelliel and Naruto weren't searching for Naruto's past was an added bonus. Without the burden of having to search for clues it made the day all the more enjoyable because the busty greenhair and her more aloof blond companion were free to spend the day having as much fun as possible.

As arrancar that weren't bound by the laws of physics, the two of them were blessed to be able to watch the world from the very highest point on the tower. There they shared a stolen lunch of various cuisines as well as a fine French wine.

"... And I say we take the Mona Lisa back with us!" insisted Naruto wholeheartedly as the two kept up their conversation.

The only response he got was Nelliel smiling and simply rolling her eyes. Of course Naruto would want to steal something incredibly expensive and irreplaceable - it just seemed like something he would do.

"It is truly beautiful here," observed Nelliel softly as the two ate. For his part, Naruto again insisted on stealing the Mona Lisa. In response Nelliel lightly punched him on the shoulder.

Their moment of childish amusement was cut short as a large spike of Reiatsu began to approach them. It appeared that after seven hours in France that Soul Society had caught them again. A single shinigami exited a portal high in the sky before slowly hovering towards them.

Immediately the two arrancar pulled up from their resting spots and sprang to attention. Nelliel stood in a beautiful female version of a male suit with her Spanish dress sword drawn while Naruto kneeled beside her in a laughable black tuxedo with an orange undershirt and his small kunai held in a reverse handle.

"Hold your swords, I mean you no harm." announced the shinigami with a silver tongue and a disarming smile. The man appeared to be in his mid-twenties, but knowing how shinigami aged there was likely no clue how old he truly was. He slowly floated over to them with his hands raised disarmingly, a brown cut of hair and thin glasses lining his face. "I just want to talk to Naruto."

Nelliel noted that the man wore a white Captain's Hiori - clearly Soul Society meant business. In the past she had killed multiple lieutenants but this was the first time Soul Society had sent a captain after them. Regardless of the man's words, there was something off about him. It was as though he presented himself as far less than what he currently was – a dangerous façade.

"Who are you?" asked Nelliel as she resheathed her sword but kept her hand on the grip. Very carefully she moved so as to keep herself directly between the shinigami and Naruto. She was nervous but confident that she would be able to cut down the shinigami where he stood if he made any offensive postures. Captain or not, she would protect Naruto with her life if necessary.

The shinigami continued to smile as he touched down next to the two arrancars at the tip of the tower. "My name is Sosuke Aizen, I'm the captain of the fifth squad of the Gotei thirteen." he said as he introduced himself. "I came of my own volition, Soul Society didn't send me."

"How do you know my name?" asked Naruto hesitantly, the distrust obvious in his voice. Clearly Aizen knew of them, but they didn't know who he was. There was something about the man that gave off a strange vibe of nostalgia and familiarity, but at the same time it was very uncomfortable.

With a smile that did little to disarm the two arrancars in front of him, Aizen slowly moved his hands to his blade. Immediately Nelliel's grip on her blade tightened. What happened next surprised both of them.

Instead of drawing his blade, he simply grabbed the sheath and laid the sword upon the metal surface of the Eifel Tower.

"I know your name because I've been looking for you for the past thousand years." answered Aizen softly. "I need your help in righting the wrong known as infinite Tsukuyomi."

All at once, memories of Naruto's past surged into the forefront of his mind. Nelliel screamed in pain as Naruto grabbed his head in an effort to stem the onslaught of memories of his past. Memories of life, of love, of challenge, and of enduring sacrifice.

Naruto remembered defeating Nagato, meeting his father and mother, going to war against Obito and Madara, reuniting with Sasuke Uchiha, and then dying as Sakura desperately tried to keep his heart beating. He had failed in life, and the memories of Sakura's tears on his chin were the last thing he felt before he died. He had promised that he would somehow find a way to bring peace to the world.

But he had failed, and the world ended, and he had been forced to watch as everyone ceased to exist around him while he was chained to his corpse.

And so he fell…

…and so he fell…

…and so he fell…

…and so he remembered his past life…

* * *

As fast as it came, Naruto's memories ended.

"No…" begged Naruto as he fell to his knees; how could he have failed so miserably in his past life? Almost on instinct he caught the falling body of his Nelliel, catching her before she could plummet to the earth below.

No wonder he felt haunted by his memories. He was a complete failure. The shinobi world had relied upon Naruto to be their hero, but he had failed them. When he died, the entire world ended for Konoha and the elemental nations.

Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi had erased them from the world entirely. It was with great horror that his dead spirit realized that the Infinite Tsukuyomi was not a genjutsu; it was a genocide.

Everyone he knew had been erased from the world, and as a corpse he had been forced to watch on as they disappeared. Because he had died he had been spared the horror of being erased, but because he had died he persisted on to become one a hollow with an unending sorrow.

Naruto thought that he was enjoying his life with Nelliel, but knowing that his joy came on the back of great tragedy gave a sudden bittersweet clarity. No wonder he had been cursed to walk the sands of Hueco Mundo alone.

His death had doomed the world.

"Are you finished with your world shattering revelation, Dobe?" asked Aizen as the man smirked arrogantly, "Perhaps you could get off your ass and maybe play hero one last time?"

"How the hell are you here, teme?" spat Naruto as he stared at Sasuke Uchiha, the man everyone else called Aizen.

* * *

**(A/N): Yes, Aizen is Sasuke. There's a reason why Sasuke is on the character sheet. This story will have more plot twists than an M. Night Shyamalan movie. You have been warned. **

**Also, there will usually be a fairly decent amount of short/long timeskips between line breaks. This chapter is supposed to represent 100-200 years of human history. Chapter 3 will also cover a long period of time as well.**

**edit 1-26-14: fixed some minor grammatical errors and rewrote Nelliel's cloth sword to be a dress sword. Her sword is an espada ropera which translates into dress/wardrobe sword (hence, cloth sword) but apparently I mistranslated it - whoopsies. An espada ropera is a long and slender blade that was popular in the 15th century Spain as a sword for civilians and nobility because of it's balance between cutting and stabbing. I felt it fitting to give the long and slender woman a long and slender sword.**


	3. Choice

Sasuke refused to believe that he was going to die. Moments ago, the bastard known as Madara Uchiha had pierced him through the heart with Sasuke's own blade and had left him to die.

Now, the last true Uchiha was lying in on the ground in a pool of his own blood struggling to get up.

"I... Refuse... To die..." gasped Sasuke as the strength left him. But there was no point to his feeble attempts at standing; the last of his energy was leaving him and Madara was consuming the fruit of the world tree. In seconds the madman would cast his Infinite Tsukuyomi upon the world and wrap it in eternal darkness.

With a dead crash, Sasuke lost the last part of his balance and fell to the ground, unmoving. He had lost too much blood and as a result his limbs no longer responded to his command. With Madara making the final preparations for his ascension there were only two options in front of Sasuke Uchiha.

Either he could lie down and die for nothing or he could raise himself up one last time and die for something.

_"I'm sorry about the eye, brother."_ Thought Sasuke as the light in his left eye went dark. Izanagi was a forbidden technique, but for the sake of his brother's legacy it was a technique that Sasuke had to use. He wasn't even sure if the technique would work, but he had no other options.

Immediately he could feel the power once again flowing through his body. As the genjutsu rewrote destiny and repaired his body he slowly pulled himself off the ground. First one tentative arm, then the other. Soon he was standing tall as the technique began to fade; its job complete.

But then hell on earth happened.

Sasuke could only assume that Madara had finished casting his infinite Tsukuyomi upon the moon.

The world around Sasuke was blanketed in pure white light as the death of thousands happened in an instant. His body was flayed into billions upon billions of atoms only to be reconstructed by Izanagi seconds later. The pain was unending as his reconstructed body collapsed to the ground in a heap.

He wanted to scream, but there was simply so much pain that his body refused him even that small mercy. Instead, he simply blacked out.

Sasuke didn't know how much time he had spent lying on the ground. When he came to he was sitting in a shack on the very edges of an unending city. The area was peaceful and almost surreal in how the people around him simply carried on with their lives.

He didn't know where he was or what had happened, but he was sure of one thing.

Sasuke Uchiha was caught inside Madara's Infinite Tsukuyomi.

* * *

The first couple of years were a mess.

Between the complete confusion over what the hell was going on and the heavy drinking that that confusion caused, Sasuke was a wreck. According to the people that he asked, Sasuke was in the Soul Society - a land where the no longer living spirits went to relax and enjoy their time in heaven.

Everywhere he looked he saw memories from before the Infinite Tsukuyomi - people that he once knew were now prominent shinigami. People like the five Kages were powerful captains and powerful people that he once knew also held similar positions of power. Kakashi Hatake, for example, was the captain of squad two.

And yet, no matter where he went, nobody seemed to remember him or anything about their lives before the Infinite Tsukuyomi. They had all been completely brainwashed by Madara.

Even his own companions such as Sakura Haruno or Jugo failed to recognize him. No one save himself seemed to remember anything about Konoha or their past lives as Shinobi in the Elemental Nations. Even worse, he was met with disbelieving stares every time he tried to convince them of the Infinite Tsukuyomi creating this world.

At first he made subtle attempts to try and get them to remember, but that only ended in strange glares. Then he tried force, but under the Infinite Tsukuyomi he was powerless. He still remembered being kicked out of the Seireitei by Karin Uzumaki; it was very weird to say the least.

The knowledge that he was both powerless and the only person who remembered the past drove him to heavy drinking.

* * *

It wasn't until the second hundredth year of drinking that Sasuke had an epiphany. He was in Lady Tsunade's tavern, desperately trying to drink away his miseries when he overheard the owner of the bar talking.

"Oh hush Dan," whispered the blond bartender mischievously, "you know that Minato's not material for the royal guard."

Sasuke cradled the sake glass in his hand as he eavesdropped in on his former Hokage's gossip. She didn't care that he was an insane bum nor did it matter that he would often listen to the gossip. All she cared about was the fact that Sasuke was somehow able to pay for his alcohol. No one took Sasuke the Insane seriously.

"But Minato's extremely strong," replied Lieutenant Dan Kato under his breath, "no doubt he'd serve the Soul King well. Besides, he's the longest running captain other than the commander, he has to retire soon."

And that was when Sasuke's eyes went wide in revelation. The men and women of Soul Society praised the Soul King, the man who had created and maintained the world. He had long ago heard of the tales of the Soul King but they always felt like a child's story. However, for a lieutenant to say that the Soul King existed was a startling revelation.

In his drunken haze, Sasuke put the pieces of the puzzle together. Three revelations came to Sasuke like a stroke of genious.

First - Madara erased the Elemental Nations and anyone that had access to chakra from the map with his Infinite Tsukuyomi.

Second - Madara had created a new world called soul society to deposit the souls of everyone who had been caught in the Infinite Tsukuyomi. He then turned the most powerful souls into his personal army of shinigami.

Third - Madara was the soul king. He ruled over the spirit world in such a way as to create his own personal paradise.

The very thought that Madara was twisting the world into his own paradise sickened Sasuke. None of the people that he had fought with would have wanted to worship Madara, but they did so anyways because he had reprogrammed them all.

There wasn't anything that Sasuke could do now, but he would be damned if he simply let Madara rule in his paradise. Still, the only reason that Madara had probably spared Sasuke's life already was because no one took him seriously. If it came out that Sasuke was planning on killing Madara, then Sasuke's head would probably be rolling off his shoulders soon.

But that just meant that he had to be extraordinarily careful in his planning. So Sasuke reinvented himself and joined the academy for Shinigami. He changed his hair and hid his Sharingan before completely reinventing himself as Sosuke Aizen. He quickly rose through the ranks and became a much loved captain in the army for the man that he hated, but it was all a part of his crazy plan.

After all, the only way to destroy Madara was from within the man's own army. Sasuke had lost much of his human powers, but he could still learn to use his shinigami powers.

* * *

High atop the finest French tower Sasuke stood in front of Naruto and Nelliel; his cocky half-grin and shit-eating smile dared Naruto to challenge his assertions.

As much as Naruto tried to find a flaw in Sasuke's findings, he had to admit that a lot of it did make sense. After all, Sasuke's theory explained the lack of Konoha or anyone else that Naruto had ever known. Then again, Naruto didn't know for a fact that Madara was the Soul King; he just had to assume that Sasuke was correct.

"Wait," questioned Nelliel skeptically, "if Madara really enslaved all of the shinobi then how did Naruto escape?"

Sensing Nelliel's discomfort over discussing his past, Naruto gently wrapped his arm around her waist and gave a light squeeze. This earned him an affectionate gaze from Nelliel and a sarcastic roll of the eyes from Sasuke.

"Naruto was dead before Madara initiated the Infinite Tsukuyomi," reasoned Sasuke as though he was saying the most obvious thing in the world, "because he was dead, Madara couldn't reap his soul from the body. As a result of the trauma he became a hollow. That was when he met you."

Question answered, Nelliel nodded lightly before running her fingers along the scabbard of her cloth sword. She didn't completely buy Sasuke's answer, but it was a decent answer if Sasuke's assumptions were all correct.

That didn't make her feel any better. Nelliel felt that somehow, and Naruto felt the same way, Sasuke was hiding something. The greenhair couldn't explain it, but she had a gut feeling that Sasuke was going to do something extremely crazy in the next few moments.

Naruto sensed her discomfort and spoke up, "Okay teme, I guess your theory of the world makes sense. Let's say you're right. Why did you come to find me? Why did you ask me to-"

Naruto was cut off by Sasuke lifting a finger. The shinigami captain looked over his shoulders nervously before motioning to his sword that he had laid at Naruto's feet.

Naruto trusted Sasuke enough not to kill Nelliel or himself, so he slowly leaned down and handed Sasuke back his sword. Gently the captain gripped the sheath in one hand and the handle in the other. He pulled the sword out a fraction of an inch to let both Nelliel and Naruto catch the faintest glimmer of reflected sunlight.

"Shatter." commanded Sasuke as he released his shikai. Immediately his sword, Kyoka Suigetsu, responded. As the sword caught both the Arrancar in Sasuke's illusion, the world began to turn into a twisted red and black version of reality.

"Tsukuyomi?" asked Naruto as he eyed the world around him. He had only ever been placed under the powerful genjutsu once, but it immediately recognizable.

"Apologies, but the Soul King has agents everywhere. This is the only way I can freely talk outside of Hueco Mundo - the godless land."

Naruto fought the urge to palm his face. What kind of crap did Sasuke just spew? Seriously, Madara might have won but he wasn't omniscient. If he was then Madara would have killed both of them a long time ago.

And what the hell did he mean when he called Hueco Mundo a godless land?

Never mind, too much bullshit to think about. Naruto just palmed his face while motioning with his other hand for Sasuke to continue.

"As you asked, Naruto, I need your help." answered Sasuke, "I plan on killing Madara and resetting the world back to before the infinite Tsukuyomi. With your help, I fix all the mistakes that we made."

The silence in the air was palpable as no one said anything. The bombshell revelation continued as Nelliel found that she had no more strength in her legs. Naruto had to pretty much carry her in order for her not to fall, though truthfully he was feeling the need to sit down as well.

"That's insane..." muttered Nelliel in disbelief. "...You can't be serious..."

"Teme," started Naruto before he paused to find the right words. Now that he remembered his past, more than anything Naruto wanted to fix his mistakes. His incomplete past had haunted him for all these hundreds of years, but now Sasuke offered him a chance to fix all of that. "Is that even possible?"

It was too good to be true. He could relive his life as a Shinobi and fix all of those mistakes. Alongside Nelliel and Sasuke, Naruto could once again be an unstoppable hero for the Shinobi world.

"Oh yes," replied Sasuke with a vicious grin, "all we have to do is kill him. Once Madara dies the Infinite Tsukuyomi will end with him. Everything that has happened until now will become as naught."

Naruto knew that it was far too good to be true, but he simply couldn't resist. It was a chance that he had to take. "What's your plan?" he asked before he felt the terror of Nelliel in the back of his mind.

"What?!" gasped Nelliel as she turned to Naruto. Despair, shock, betrayal, and horror radiated from her face as she wrapped her arms around Naruto and refused to let go. The two Arrancar locked eyes for a split second as their souls touched, then Nelliel buried her face in Naruto's chest.

"I should probably go..." noted Sasuke uncomfortably as he felt the distinct feeling that he was watching something incredibly awkward and personal. "... Meet me in Las Noches in two months. We'll discuss the plan then."

* * *

By the time Sasuke left, Naruto was sure that he had a lot on his mind. With a heavy heart full of confusion Naruto carried Nelliel through a garganta and back to Hueco Mundo. The knowledge that everything he had failed at as a human could be fixed was gloriously uplifting.

But at the same time, Nelliel had been crushed for some reason. His beloved greenhair was catatonic and refused to acknowledge any form of input he gave her.

Naruto laid a soft kiss on Nelliel's mask as he carried her through the threshold of their home and into their snowy retreat in the mountains of Hueco Mundo. She was barely responsive and, when Naruto led her to her favorite plush chair, the only thing she did was curl up into a ball and stare at the ever-burning fire.

"Talk to me Nel? Tell me why you're sad?" begged Naruto as he walked over to a nearby cabinet and poured Nelliel's favorite wine into a cup. He returned to Nelliel's side and offered the cup to his soul mate as a way to comfort her, but she didn't even look at the wine.

Setting the cup down by the hearthstone of the fire, Naruto decided to at try and pull a page out of Nelliel's book of tricks. Slowly and carefully he lifted Nelliel out of her chair and hugged her. Then he sat down in the chair and laid Nelliel in his lap with her back to the fire. Whenever Naruto was upset about his past memories Nelliel would comfort him physically; now it was his turn to do the same for her.

For what seemed like an eternity the two sat by the fire, Nelliel in despondent sadness and Naruto in desperate hope to fix her.

"Am I really just a figment of an illusion?" she asked after what seemed like an eternity. "Will I disappear with it?"

Though Naruto barely heard it, he immediately understood Nelliel's despair. At the same time, he felt horrible for not realizing it sooner. He had been so caught up in the notion that he could fix his past that he failed to realize the most important thing.

To save his human life, Naruto would have to forsake his life with Nelliel. The only reason he had ever met Nelliel was because he had failed as a human. If he succeeded as a human, Naruto and Nelliel would never be together.

When Naruto had shown interest in fixing his past, he had stabbed his soul mate in the heart and twisted the blade. If Sasuke's words were true then Nelliel would disappear when Madara died.

Gently Naruto drew one arm around her back and the other upon her shoulders, resting her head in the crook of his neck. For the longest time the pair sat in the chair, Nelliel rested in crushing sadness and Naruto was desperate to find the words to comfort her.

Why were those words so hard to find?

While it was true that the spirit world was created by Madara winning, did that make his life with Nelliel any less real than his life as a human? Sure, Naruto had had a good run as a human and he had come to terms with that; was it worth removing his life with Nelliel to fix it? His human life might have ended horribly but, at the very least, according to Sasuke the people that he failed were content to live as spirits.

Those people were content to live despite Naruto's failure and if Naruto had succeeded, he wouldn't have met Nelliel. Everything he had done for the past four hundred years or so wouldn't have happened.

Naruto wouldn't have wandered the desert, found Nelliel, lost Nelliel, regained Nelliel, or enjoyed life with Nelliel if he had succeeded. He didn't want to believe that he was abandoning his past life as a human - but he had moved on. At least he thought he had moved on before Sasuke offered him the chance to fix his human mistakes.

He had leapt at the opportunity to do so, and he had hurt Nelliel.

Naruto had spent far more time as a hollow and an arrancar than he had as a human - and he had spent the vast majority of life with his soul mate Nelliel. And yet, there were people like Gaara and Sakura and everyone else that he had let down. No matter what his choice, Naruto was certain that he would never be happy with himself.

But would his human friends truly hate him for choosing Nelliel? Would they chastise him for choosing a reality created by an illusion? Was it even an illusion if he could feel its reality in his soul?

There was something about Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck that made him happy. She was caring, understanding, protective, and quite beautiful. Was it really all that wrong to say that he valued his soul mate more than the fate of the Elemental Nations? Was that truly his answer?

Was it all an illusion? Why would his soul lie to him and say that Nelliel was real if she was just a creation of Madara's illusion. He had felt Nelliel inside of his very soul and he could still feel her as a part of his soul just as he was a part of her soul. Surely Sasuke had to be wrong. There was no way that Nelliel was not real.

It horrified him to think that he judged Nelliel's soul to be more important than everyone else.

No, that wasn't right.

It horrified him to think that he wasn't horrified by the fact that he valued Nelliel's soul more than the fate everyone else. If this relationship was created by the infinite Tsukuyomi then he preferred the Infinite Tsukuyomi to his life as a human.

Just before their last excursion where they had met Sasuke, Nelliel had asked if Naruto's memories were worth chasing. Now that he remembered everything and had the opportunity to fix his mistakes, he had his answer.

They weren't.

"I know that, if we had been humans or shinigami, I still would have liked to get to know you." he whispered into her ear. "It doesn't matter if this world is the result of an illusion, because I love you and that love is real. Nelliel, you are my soul and, if I had the option to fix my past failures, I wouldn't change anything."

As soon as Naruto finished talking he felt relief in his heart. It was as though a painful weight upon his mind had been lifted, and he was no longer burdened by doubt. Through his words and his heart, he had made his way through to Nelliel. The greenhair's warm tears began to soak his suit as she pressed her breasts against his chest in a tight hug.

"I love you Nelliel, you know that."

"… I know that…"

Naruto just smiled as the weight lifted from his heart. Sasuke would probably kill him later, but that didn't matter. Right now, Nelliel, not the Elemental Nations, was his world.

* * *

Naruto fidgeted as he sat down in the large meeting chamber of Las Noches. Evidently Sasuke had been incredibly busy in the past few years; the man was masquerading as a loyal captain of the Gotei Thirteen while building up his base of power in Hueco Mundo.

Already he had hundreds of artificial Arrancar, and many of them were quite strong.

"Ah Naruto, good morning." greeted Sasuke as he strolled into the meeting chamber alone. Sasuke was wearing his mask of Sosuke Aizen proudly as he walked in his captain's hiyori. "I've been expecting you."

With a roll of his eyes, Naruto simply greeted Sasuke in his traditional way. "You're late, teme, I've been here for four weeks. You're worse than Kakashi."

Naruto knew that the man had to maintain his facade as a loyal captain but, honestly, it shouldn't have been all that hard to get out of the Soul Society in order to meet with him. Besides, it wasn't like Sasuke had anything better to do.

"I would apologize, dobe, but that might fry your brain." countered Sasuke as his body morphed from Aizen back to the more familiar black haired body of the last Uchiha. "I'm about to cross the point of no return, but I understand you've come to a decision about helping me?"

Naruto sighed as Sasuke took a seat and propped his head in his hands. Idly Naruto noted that old habits never died as the man in front of him looked exactly like Naruto would have expected Sasuke to look like when they were both humans.

"I have," responded Naruto as he steeled himself, "I've decided not to help you."

Whatever Naruto had expected of Sasuke's reaction, he hasn't expected the man to simply do nothing. Sasuke didn't even blink for the longest time; Sasuke simply stared at Naruto as though the Arrancar hadn't said anything.

After what seemed like an eternity, Sasuke sighed deeply. "Damn it, Naruto," he cursed, "don't you understand that this is a chance to fix our sins? How many people do you think we failed that day? Thousands of people and an entire way of life were brutally murdered by Madara and we can fix that. We have the chance to right every wrong and you're too much of a chickenshit coward to take that chance."

"Sasuke," replied Naruto softly, "all those people died thousands of years ago when the Infinite Tsukuyomi was completed. We failed, but you yourself said that they were content in their lives afterwards. Let the dead rest."

In a massive burst of anger, Sasuke created so much killer intent that the table separating them began to crack and buckle.

"Don't you understand Naruto? The dead can't rest because they're not dead! Madara has them in eternal servitude! I have watch as countless shinobi have been reincarnated countless times as shinigami! He refuses to let the dead rest because he refuses to end the Infinite Tsukuyomi and he continues to defile their memories! Just because you are content to hide away from his gaze in your icy cavern with your illusionary whore doesn't mean that I am content to sit here and do nothing!"

"Don't you dare call Nel a whore!" shouted Naruto as he stood up and matched Sasuke's killing intent. The table surrounding them disintegrated as Sasuke also stood up and laced his power around the room.

"That bitch is keeping you from seeing the truth Naruto! Nelliel doesn't exist outside of this false world! The real you wouldn't be content to break his promise to bring peace to the world, no matter how hard it was! What happened to you being a hero!? All I see is a coward stuck in an illusion! You can either stay in your cave with your whore and live for nothing in this illusion or you can fight with me and at least die for something!"

"I'll fucking kill you teme!" screamed Naruto as he made a diving tackle at Sasuke.

Immediately Sasuke responded by catching Naruto mid jump and slamming him to the ground in a move that came straight out of a wrestling match. Then he picked up Naruto by his leg and spun him around before tossing him like he was a metal ball at a shot put event.

Naruto crashed through four pillars and a wall before coming to a stop. Resting only for an instant, Naruto immediately took to his feet in a quick sonido and clotheslined Sasuke with an insane amount of force that bent the shinigami over backwards and sent him completely through the floor.

In an instant Sasuke was back in front of him. The man's quick shunpo placed him in perfect position to punch Naruto straight in the forehead with a powerful left hook. The shinigami followed up with a strong right uppercut that sent Naruto's head jerking backwards.

As Naruto absorbed the motion and snapped backwards he pulled his legs into the air and kicked Sasuke firmly with both of his feet. The wind audibly left Sasuke as he grunted whilst being sent flying back.

Mere seconds later both Shinigami and Arrancar were right back at each other's throats.

* * *

"What the hell did you two do?" asked a bewildered Coyote Starrk as he stared at the destruction in the remains of the main meeting room.

For the past hour it sounded like someone was doing renovations in the area and, judging by the amount of chaos the room was in, that person had probably specialized in destruction. When that noise abruptly stopped, Starrk had been convinced by Lilinette to go and see if something was wrong.

He immediately regretted listening to her.

"We just had a bit of a... heart to heart conversation." replied Naruto as he lay sprawled out on the floor. For the past hour he had just slugged it out with his former, and apparently still current, rival. Somehow the two had made a gentleman's agreement not to kill the other person but that didn't stop them from beating the eternal shit out of each other.

"Is there a reason why Aizen-sama's sword is stuck in your leg?" asked Starrk as he pointed to Sasuke's sword.

Idly Naruto lifted his head up to find that Kyoka Suigetsu, in fact, was piercing his leg. Interestingly enough he couldn't feel any pain from that limb, so Naruto was either much tougher than he thought or he was in so much pain that his body had shut off the pain signals.

Well, at least Naruto wasn't attached to a wall via a kunai through the hand. The only thing keeping Sasuke from falling to the floor was the fact that he was nailed to a wall.

"It was a rather hands on heart to heart talk," replied Naruto tiredly, "please don't tell anyone."

Starrk simply raised his hands and shook his head before turning around and walking out of the room. The current first Espada viewed the whole situation as far too troublesome to deal with, he really didn't want to know what Naruto had done to deserve Aizen's wrath.

As soon as Starrk had left the room and closed the doors, Naruto spoke up. "I'm assuming you had your little illusion shit going on there. He didn't ask about why you were nailed to the wall."

"Of course it was Dobe," replied Sasuke as he pulled his hand out of the wall and fell to the ground, "we still up for plan B?"

"Yeah, just not right now... Not right now..."

* * *

Taking great care so as not to adjust the ice pack on his left eye, Naruto slowly rolled over along his temporary home's couch. Apparently Sasuke, or Aizen as he preferred to call himself now, could throw one hell of a right hook.

But seriously, Sasuke was one paranoid lunatic. The only three people that knew his real identity were Naruto, Nelliel, and Sasuke himself. Even his trusted shinigami companions Gin and Tousen weren't in on his secret.

Or maybe they were, and they didn't know Naruto was in on the secret.

"This is so friggin annoying." cursed Naruto bitterly as he stared at the apartment complex that Sasuke had given him. While he was all for helping out Sasuke, Naruto had to draw the line at erasing their failure.

Naruto had far too much to live for in order to forsake it all. While Sasuke could make the claim that he had nothing to live for in the world created by the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Naruto couldn't

He just really hoped that Sasuke wouldn't hold a grudge for it and that the insane shinigami would at least keep to their agreement.

"Naruto, why do you have a black eye?" asked Nelliel as she entered their temporary lodgings. In her hand were two dishes of food, though Naruto wasn't entirely sure what they were. She deposited them on a nearby dining table before sitting down on Naruto's lap.

"Would you believe I tripped?" asked Naruto sarcastically. As much as he didn't want to not tell Nelliel the truth, he really didn't want to tell anyone the truth. Neither Sasuke nor Naruto would be able to live the situation down if word got out that they had beaten the crap out of each other.

"No, but that's fine." replied Nelliel as she lifted the ice pack to observe Naruto's eye. "Did you talk to Aizen about not helping him?"

Naruto sighed heavily before answering, "I did, and we reached a compromise."

"A compromise?"

"Yeah, we won't end the Infinite Tsukuyomi but we're sure as hell going to shove a pike up Madara's ass."

* * *

**(A/N): The theme of this chapter is choice. Sasuke made a choice to become Aizen, Naruto made a choice to choose Nelliel, Sasuke and Naruto made a choice to go old school and beat the crap out of each other. I have to admit that this chapter was particularly fun to write, although it definitely feels a bit looser and shorter. A couple people complained about Sasuke being Aizen so hopefully this gives a little more explanation as to why I made that choice. **

**Before I go, one question that I'd like to address: Will other characters show up? Maybe but they'll end up being largely satellite characters except for the Soul King. This is a primarily 2-3 person story.**


	4. Resolve

"There has to be another way." insisted Naruto as he went over Sasuke's plan. The two former ninja and Nelliel were currently in Sasuke's personal sanctum in Las Noches, with the owner of the land having just had the honor of being ousted as a traitor to the Gotei Thirteen.

No matter what Naruto said, the die had been cast. In a few short months the war between Sasuke's Arrancar army and Madara's Gotei Thirteen would be waged on full scale. Sasuke predicted that the battle would largely take place over Karakura Town as that was the location of the current spirit ground required to forge the King's Key required to enter into Madara's personal sanctum.

"There is no other way dobe," replied Sasuke as he meticulously poured over his battle plans. Kyoka Suigetsu was currently casting its illusion over the room as Sasuke fretted over papers that didn't truly exist. "In order to make the king's key that unlocks Madara's sanctum you need to forge one hundred thousand souls together and then crush them into a malleable fragment."

The thought of killing one hundred thousand innocent souls brought out a scowl on Naruto's face. "How does that make us any different than Madara? A genocide is still a genocide regardless of who commits it."

"I told you dobe, these aren't people that were supposed to have existed. Don't think of it that way."

Regardless of whether or not Sasuke was right, the notion that they had to kill so many people in order to get at Madara was disgusting. It was one thing to declare a personal vendetta against Madara, but it was a complete separate issue that they had to sacrifice so many souls in the process.

If not for the fact that Naruto had already agreed to help Sasuke, Naruto would have long since returned to his cave in order to let time continue on. But he had promised Sasuke his support before he had learned of the requirement for the king's key, so he was stuck begrudgingly supporting his former teammate.

"So where do we get these souls?" asked Nelliel as she quietly sat in the corner. She didn't much feel like killing so many people in order to form the key but it was Naruto's decision in the end and she would abide by it.

That didn't mean that she would be happy with him for agreeing to support the genocide. But she had long ago promised to spend her life with Naruto and if it meant committing vast amount of untold horror then that was the price of life.

"Simple, Karakura Town." replied Sasuke as he pulled up a massive map of a large city.

The only problem was that the map clearly said "NEW YORK" on it.

Naruto just started at Sasuke and his map with a look of exasperation and disbelief. "Uh, teme, that's the wrong map." He commented as he pointed to the fairly obvious and flowery title at the top of the page.

"I know, dobe, but you don't seriously think that there's only one place with one hundred thousand souls in a tightly packed area do you?"

As if on cue, both Nelliel and Naruto palmed their faces. "Teme, if we can just go anywhere and get the souls required for the King's Key, was all that nonsense about Karakura Town for?"

Sasuke smiled devilishly as he pulled up a dozen other maps, each one belonging to a major city. He leafed through them before pulling out a map of Karakura town with a large amount of writing on it. "Simple, dobe, you get to make the King's Key in secret while I distract the vast majority of Soul Society's army."

* * *

Nelliel frowned as she sat at Aizen's meeting table for his Espada. Although both Nelliel and Naruto had refused the position in his Army, Sasuke, or Aizen as he insisted upon being called, still wanted to keep them in the loop. As such the man had ignored their refusal and had somehow roped Nelliel into taking the position in his ranks - if only to shut him up about it.

Again, it was Aizen's brilliant idea to make her the fourth Espada. He placed Nelliel in the middle of the ranks in order to not draw attention to both her and Naruto. At the same time, it would give them enough power to do whatever they wanted without question. It was his gambit that their lower rank would prove to be important.

While she hadn't fought Starrk or any of the Arrancar ahead of her in rank, the lazy man who was the first sword had privately admitted that she should probably have been at the top. That, and that Nelliel was kind of hot in an Espada uniform. Still, she refused to let herself be inked with a number tattoo. Only Naruto was allowed to mess with her body.

Zoning back into the discussion temporarily, Nelliel overhead the fifth Espada Ulquiorra Cifer reviewing his assessment of the substitute Shinigami Ichigo Kurosaki. He was replaying the fight with one of his little tricks, going into detail as he butchered the kid's friends.

Ulquiorra didn't give the teenager high marks.

Nelliel had to admit, though, that Sasuke's master plan was disgustingly clever. Not only had the man masterminded the war down to the minutest detail, but he was also doing it entirely as a feint in order to draw Soul Society's gaze away from Naruto and Nelliel's part in the plan.

Because after all the chips were on the table and the cards about to be revealed; it wasn't Sasuke that would be making the king's key. That job belonged to Naruto, and he would be making it in the completely ignored city of Las Angeles, California.

Though Nelliel hated to admit it, she sort of looked forward to fighting in the war against Madara with Naruto. Although she didn't like the fact that they had to create the King's Key it was at least a way to help put Naruto's past to rest. This was the first time that had ever fought for a purpose larger than herself or Naruto, and it was a genuinely new experience to live with a purpose beyond simply enjoying life.

But Nelliel still abhorred violence. It reminded her of her life as a hollow; back when she had no meaning to her life. Long ago, when she had met Naruto she had thought that she could one day rise above the carnal instinct to hurt others. When she had become a part of Naruto's soul and later an Arrancar she had naively assumed that she was done with fighting.

But she was wrong. The sword that she always carried by her side was evidence of that.

And now here she was, fighting for a people that never knew she existed. Naruto's promise that he would protect his fellow shinobi gave him a reason to continue on that was far more than simple existence.

But, she knew that she was being hypocritical and Naruto felt just the same. All things had a right to live, and it was hypocritical to claim justice while planning violence and genocide against an innocent people in the name of that justice.

However, despite the hypocrisy Nelliel had sworn to herself that she would always protect Naruto, so she was resolved to see the plan out to the end. Naruto needed to do it to put his past to rest; once it was over they could hopefully return to some semblance of peace.

Maybe, once this was all over, both Nelliel and Naruto could get on with their lives. Maybe they could move on to another great adventure,

* * *

Naruto palmed his face as he watched Grimmjow and Ichigo dueling to the apparent death over the resident hostage Orihime. As much as he hated to admit it, every single kami damned prediction that Sasuke had made over the past few months had actually come true.

Grimmjow invaded the world of the living and sparked up a rivalry with Ichigo.

Orihime agreed to be kidnapped instead of having her friends killed.

Ichigo actually came to rescue her.

Four captains were currently on their way from Soul Society while the rest of them waited in a fake Karakura Town.

"What the hell teme!?" shouted Naruto angrily as he stared at the current image of his longtime friend. No longer was he Sosuke Aizen, but he was Sasuke Uchiha. The man's three tomoed sharingan spun wildly as he manipulated the Hogyoku into his body.

At Naruto's outburst, Sasuke paused his actions and stared at the blond Arrancar. "What?" he asked as he began to resume the implantation.

"How the hell did you predict all of this crap?!" asked Naruto as he continued to watch Grimmjow and Ichigo fight in the fortress walls.

Sasuke just laughed at him.

But seriously, Sasuke was freakishly good at predicting people.

Turning away from Sasuke, Naruto mentally went over the plan one last time in his head. As soon as the captains of the Gotei Thirteen made their way to Las Noches Naruto and Nelliel were supposed to head out. Then, after stranding the captains in the fortress, Sasuke would take his three strongest Espada and their underlings into battle over the false Karakura Town.

Sasuke would distract the shinigami while Naruto made the King's Key, and then the two would meet up above the Seireitei together and storm Madara's personal sanctum. Assuming all things went as planned; Madara would be dead before the end of the day.

But something didn't feel right. Sasuke looked like he was hiding something. He was being increasingly arrogant to mask his inward discomfort. Despite everything in the past few months having been completely under Sasuke's control, something about him just seemed off.

"Sasuke," asked Naruto as he looked up from the battle below, "are you sure everything is going to work out?"

"Of course Naruto, now get going. Just remember to stick to the plan."

Naruto nodded wordlessly as Nelliel entered the room. The beautiful green hair frowned as she closed the door behind them. "It's time." she spoke as she opened a small garganta into the human world.

As the two left, Sasuke dropped his arrogant visage and prayed to whatever gods still existed. In the end, no matter what happened today, the world would be fixed.

Sasuke cupped the Hogyoku in his hand as he watched the garganta close. He had told them that he would be the main distraction, forcing the vast majority of the shinigami army to fight in Karakura Town. Through the Hogyoku and his arrancar army he would be able to force the Gotei Thirteen to their knees.

There he would claim to make the King's Key and undoubtedly bring the royal guard into the battle field to stop him. Against the six legends that protected Madara, he would die.

Sasuke knew that he would fail against the combined might of the royal guard. Even with the Hogyoku, Madara's royal guard simply had too much power for him to handle. Against all six of them he could only hope to bring the battle to a standstill.

But eventually, like all things, Sasuke would die.

"I told you that we'd at least be dying for something." Smiled Sasuke Uchiha sadly as his visage morphed one last time into Sosuke Aizen. "You hated the plan, but you're the only person that can do it..."

Sasuke knew that trusting Naruto was crazy. But not once, not one single time, did Naruto ever let him down. Even in the very end, when Sasuke was lying on the ground in a pool of his own human blood, did Naruto give up.

And because Naruto never gave up, he would win. He would win and he would end this false world. Even though Naruto didn't want to because of his relationship with Nelliel, Sasuke knew that he would.

Sasuke didn't know how Naruto would do it, but he would. He didn't know how one person, with a finite power, could stand against a god – but he knew that Naruto would do it and that he would succeed. He would do it because he was Naruto Uzumaki.

Today Madara would die. Even if it costed Sasuke his life, Sasuke would give Naruto the needed time to him to kill the bastard and finally bring justice to the world.

"Aizen-sama," spoke Gin Ichimaru as his fellow traitor walked into the room. "The plan is moving forward."

"Excellent, let us make haste to Karakura Town." ordered Sasuke as he smiled arrogantly. In time, Gin would also betray him, but that was fine - because Sasuke knew that he was already a dead man. Though Sasuke would die in this world, he would continue to live on as a shinobi.

* * *

The sky above Las Angeles opened up as two Arrancar descended from the heavens into a lonely alleyway.

The lead figure was a beautiful woman with a luscious head of long green hair. Atop her head rested a small skull that adorned her visage like a crown. The bone matched her silk white uniform and the dress sword kept at her side. Although she normally smiled with the most beautiful of smiles, today she carried only a strict business face - there was no glory in murder.

Behind Nelliel walked her companion Naruto. Unlike Nelliel he was dressed in a bright orange and black jumpsuit with a large black and red coat over his frame. On his forehead, a slender white fragment of his mask framed his head and kept his blond hair out of his eyes. Across his neck was a small kunai that was kept there by a chain.

"I'm sorry we have to do this," apologized Naruto as he kneeled down in preparation for the ritual. All in all it would take ten minutes of complete stillness for Naruto to create the blast that would forge the King's Key.

Nelliel said nothing, but she reached out to hold Naruto's hand. It was okay, she had forgiven him long ago. She knew that he was in inner turmoil. That was why she would always support him.

"You've always been there for me Nelliel," he said as he formed the hand signs and molded the needed energy in his body. "No matter what happens, I will always love you."

Seconds passed as Naruto began the spell. His energy quickly diminished greatly as the process began to drain him.

Suddenly a massive wave of spiritual pressure enveloped them and sent Nelliel to her knees. Warily, the green haired guardian of Naruto drew her sword and took a defensive stance around Naruto. It felt as though someone had spotted them, and since Naruto was completely defenseless it was her job to protect him.

Minutes passed as the heavy pressure continued to build. Through it all Nelliel continued to watch the area around Naruto as she awaited whatever had created the shockwave of energy.

With five minutes left on the ritual, a single figure walked into the alleyway from the corner of the street.

"Hello Naruto. I've always been proud of you." greeted the blond shinigami as he made his way out to the center of the street. The man wore a giant red and white cloak that rippled majestically in the wind that his spiritual pressure created, "you know, the Soul King's been waiting for this day."

Naruto gasped as the recognition immediately dawned on him. "Da... Dad!?" He stuttered as he fought against his body to remain still for the spell.

"None other." smiled Minato Namikaze as he held his hands out in a quick seal. "The soul king sent me to bring you to him."

There was a brilliant flash of light, and then the three of them were standing alone in an empty chamber of pure light.

* * *

"There's no one here..." gasped Naruto in shock as he looked around, "where's Madara?!"

Minato simply laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Madara was never the Soul King, Naruto. Madara was unable to contain the energy of the Juubi and his soul was obliterated on the day that the shinobi world ended."

"What?" asked Nelliel blankly, a look of disbelief in her eyes.

"Madara was never the Soul King." Repeated Minato calmly, "The world of shinobi was brought to an end by the Soul King as he came into existence from the merging and creation of a new being of infinite power. I'm sorry that Sasuke led you astray, but you can rest assured that everyone who died that day is happy to have a world of peace.

Naruto stared blankly at his father as the man rocked the foundations of his world. There were simply no words to describe the world shaking revelations inside of his father's words.

After a long pause, Minato spoke one last time. "I'm sorry to have to do this Naruto, but the Soul King demands your death. It's the only punishment that a traitor deserves." smiled Minato Namikaze sadly before he pulled his katana out from behind his back. "Fly, Hiraishin!"

Minato's single Katana transformed into a pair of three pronged kunai, one in each of the former Hokage's hands. One kunai extended forwards in a grip meant for reach while the other carried backwards in a grip meant for power. There was a shunpo that was faster than Naruto could track and suddenly Minato was directly in front of him.

Naruto's eyes went wide as his father's daggers came to a half mere inches from his face. But Minato hadn't stopped his thrust.

Nelliel's dress sword had stopped his father's blade.

"Minato Namikaze, father of my soul mate." greeted Nelliel as she pushed him off of Naruto. "I wish I could have met you as a human, or as a friend, but I regret to say that if you mean to harm Naruto then I must strike you down."

Minato smiled sadly before nodding, "I guess that you must," he agreed before disappearing in a flash step.

Minato reappeared behind Naruto in an instant, his reverse grip kunai striking downwards at his son. Again the attack was blocked by Nelliel's sword.

Striking laterally with a broad sweeping motion, Nelliel etched a slight groove into the fourth Hokage's unique kunai. The force of the motion carried him back a few feet but before her finished skidding he was already moving.

"I will not let you harm Naruto! Your opponent is me!" shouted Nelliel angrily as she once again deflected an attack aimed at Naruto and swiftly counterattacked.

In an instant the two became a blur of motion. Two daggers controlled by the legendary yellow flash fought against a Spanish dress sword wielded by the most important person in Naruto's world.

Nelliel expertly parried and riposted, ducked and slashed, deflected and kicked - all for the sake of winning the fight. It was like no other fight that she had ever encountered; every time Nelliel made a move Minato was ready for her. Both were expertly using their speed techniques but Minato was significantly quicker with his shunpo than Nelliel was with sonido.

However, Nelliel was stronger and her sword offered her more reach. Minato was having problems getting inside of the greenhair's guard. The two were evenly matched at the moment, with neither making any ground on the other.

Naruto, despite all the quick combat around him, was stunned to a catatonic state in the wake of his father's world crushing revelation. Everything he believed he was doing for his loved ones was a lie. And moreover, they were all content to live as spirits in a world of peace. Madara wasn't the evil villain behind the violence in the world, Naruto was.

Naruto wasn't a hero, he was a monster. And his father was sent to end his life.

Naruto knew that he had to move, but how could he defeat his father? Even if he could fight back against Minato, how could he kill his heart long enough to kill his father without wavering?

"Bankai - Hiraishin no Inori."

Naruto watched as his father released the final form of his blade. Instead of two kunai, Minato was now juggling five of them effortlessly in a clockwise formation. He only paused for a split second to show Nelliel his blades before throwing them at her.

"Spiral flash ring dance howl."

Minato teleported to the blade closest to Nelliel, grabbing it and throwing it at her before teleporting to a different blade. The greenhair struck back with her sword but Minato was simply too fast; he disappeared before she could retaliate.

In a flurry of rapid fire teleportations, Minato released an onslaught of offense. Over and over Minato teleported to his five kunai and used them to score cuts and other deep wounds against Nelliel as she desperately tried to bring her sword to bear against Minato.

Desperate to find some opening, Nelliel lashed out wildly with her dress sword at where she expected Minato's next teleportation to be. Through no small miracle her blade caught Minato in the stomach with a powerful slash that knocked the breath from him. Then Nelliel somehow managed to connect a foot to the man in a strong kick, knocking Minato away from her with a strong burst of energy.

"I cannot let you win here!" shouted Nelliel through the pain as she moved to release her resurrection. "Declare! Gamu-"

Naruto saw it happening before it happened. In desperation Nelliel had attempted to release her resurrection but Minato was waiting for her to do just that. The second Nelliel began to release Minato teleported mere inches in front of her face with his dagger and stabbed her straight through her throat.

"NEL!"

* * *

Nelliel's body went limp as it refused to listen to her. Minato's kunai had cut cleanly through her neck, severing her spine and cutting the nerves that allowed her to control her body.

It was a mortal wound, and she knew it.

As she collapsed to the ground, she watched Naruto blast his father away with a strange burst of energy that wasn't a cero. It resembled a massive shuriken with a blue sphere in the center. The attack seemingly caught Minato by surprise as the energy knocked him back and then rapidly expanded - cutting away a large chunk of his upper torso. The man lifelessly collapsed to the ground, less than half of the legend's body crashing to the floor before disappearing into a fine dust.

"NEL!"

Naruto was there to catch her as she fell to the ground. His eyes were panicked and his lips were moving, but she couldn't understand what he was saying. She couldn't even feel her lungs filling up with blood as her body slowly died on her.

He was crying. Naruto was distraught. Nelliel could feel his soul crying out in agony as he tried to do something, anything to save her life. But there was nothing he could do.

As her body shut down, Nelliel could feel a gentle tug on her mind. It was scary, but at the same time it was comforting. It wasn't the same thing as their bond, it was far more.

It was calling her home.

Though Nelliel was sad that her time with Naruto was up, she was happy.

Soon her soul would once again be a part of Naruto's soul, she would never have to fear or worry or be sad again. Once she rejoined Naruto, she would always be happy.

With her dying efforts, she somehow managed to lift a hand to Naruto's face. Though the act was physically impossible, she smiled and wiped away one of Naruto's many tears. Nelliel couldn't talk, but she knew that Naruto understood what she was trying to say.

Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck died with a smile on her face.

* * *

Naruto's mind shut down as he reabsorbed Nelliel's soul into his body. He didn't want her to leave him, but at the same time he didn't want for her to become a part of his soul again.

There was no way to tell Nelliel that he loved her; there was no way to hold her tight in an unending embrace. There was no way to run from the overwhelming loneliness.

But at the same time, Nelliel assured him that she loved him and would always protect him. No matter what became of her, Nelliel would always be there with Naruto - even if the world ended. Even if he was once again condemned to isolation, he would always have Nelliel.

Confused and alone in the temple where the Soul King should have been, Naruto wept.

And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

... And so he became whole...

* * *

After an unknown amount of time, Naruto got off his knees. He could feel Nelliel's calming presence in his soul, spurring him to action. Despite the tears in his eyes, Naruto knew that he had to continue on his mission.

He owed that much to Sasuke and the rest of the Shinobi that he had let down. He owed that much to his father, for the suffering that he knew Minato had to have felt as he lied to and attempted to kill his own son against his will.

He owed that much to Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck, because she was his soul and she would never forgive him if he gave up.

Madara die this day, and this world would become as though it had never existed.

"I can feel you behind that curtain." spoke Naruto in a tone barely above a whisper. He lifted his palm up and stared at it listlessly before raising it high above his head and pulling downwards.

As though a curtain of darkness had been lifted, Naruto found himself in front of the man that he had sworn he would kill.

"Madara Uchiha," Naruto noted as he watched the man float in the air.

But Madara did not respond at all to him. Instead he simply floated in the air, an immovable and unmoving shell of a man that was powerful beyond godhood. And yet, for all the power the man had, he was completely defenseless and Naruto was free to kill him.

Mere feet away from the man he had sworn to kill, Naruto found himself hesitant to take action. He didn't know how he knew what he did, but Naruto knew that if he killed Madara then the world of the shinigami would end. Everything he had ever experienced as a hollow and an Arrancar would never come to pass.

He would never know Nelliel, and he would never know the completeness in his soul that she gave him. The thought that he didn't know what would happen next scared him.

"_Do it…"_

Naruto gasped as he heard the echoes of Nelliel in his mind. "Nel?" he asked no one in particular.

"_Do it Naruto,"_ whispered Nelliel into his soul, _"I will always love you…"_

Naruto wiped away the tear from his eye as he created a rasengan in his right hand. He infused it with all of his power, all of his soul, all of his will. With one last attack, Naruto would end the world of the shinigami created by Madara.

"_Do it!"_

With a leaping charge, Naruto thrusted his palm forward and destroyed the heavenly body of Madara Uchiha.

* * *

The sky above the battlefield glowed with an ethereal brilliance as Madara casted his Infinite Tsukuyomi upon the world. There was a blinding flash of light, and then nothing happened. All around the battlefield shinobi paused in confusion as the world seemingly ended and restarted in a second.

"What is this?" Madara pondered as he turned around to face his newest opponent - the one who had apparently disrupted his attempt to cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi. As annoying as his latest challenger was, it was only a small road block in the path to world peace. Madara would just kill him and then recast the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

"Madara Uchiha, it's time for you to die" announced Naruto as he faced the man he had promised to kill. Idly he adjusted the white bone mask that created his forehead protector. He could feel the fullest powers of Nelliel's soul within him and, even though her spirit was gone, she gave him the strength he needed to end this struggle here and now.

"Vindicate - Caballero Anaranjado!"

* * *

**(A/N): I'm not gonna lie, I didn't like writing this chapter - it's weird. I've written and rewritten it four times because it never felt right. Each time I tried something different and each time I hated it more and more. In the end I decided to show each character and what they had resolved to do before breaking Naruto's resolve and rebuilding it. Oh well, one chapter left!**

**And please, if you're threatening to stop reading because I killed off Nelliel, please at least read the last chapter when it comes out. I promise you that I don't take her character death lightly and that it has a purpose in the last chapter.**


	5. Defiance

Chapter 5 - defiance

"Vindicate - Caballero Anaranjado!"

Though Naruto couldn't explain why he knew what he was doing, he instinctively knew that Nelliel's powers continued to support him. No longer would he rely on her to protect him, but he would protect himself, using her powers.

Even as a human Naruto knew that he was far, far more than what he had been when he had died. He was living, he was breathing, and he would not waste this opportunity. Nelliel had died for him twice and, even in the face of eternity, she continued to empower him.

Naruto could feel his body changing as he pulled on Nelliel's power inside of him, though the results weren't that impressive. Naruto's stature grew by a few inches and his uniform changed from his old coat that he had worn as a human to a black suit with a massive green and orange cloak that flowed effortlessly in the power that Naruto radiated outwards. His white bone mask grew several inches upwards and the top became decorated with a thin and long cartoonish skull, the kanji for family emblazoned on the center in fine orange lettering. Dull orange pads of armor sprouted around his hands and his feet, reaching up to a high ankle for protection.

Funny, how many of the changes were of things that used to belong to Nelliel.

"Naruto?" gasped Gaara as he stared at the man in front of him and then at the corpse beside him that was also Naruto. Beside him Sakura was also in shock, her hands still inside the body of Naruto desperately pumping his heart manually. "How is that-?"

Naruto cut him off with a raise of his left hand. "Don't ask." He said dismissively before turning the full of his attention to Madara Uchiha. "You've terrorized the world long enough," Naruto spat as he raised his sword and pointed the tip to the host of the Juubi.

"Naruto was it?" asked Madara as he gently spun the staff in his left hand before pointing it right back at Naruto. "I thought I killed you. After all, I can clearly see your corpse sitting there with the girl caressing it."

Naruto didn't match the man's verbal jabs. Instead he used a burst of Sonido and appeared directly behind Madara. His sword was already making a downward motion, slashing a deep gouge in the man's back. However the wound, as deep as it was, quickly healed in an instant due to Madara's tremendous power.

Surprised by the sudden speed, Madara lashed out backwards with a shockwave of malleable chakra from the Shinju tree that was sealed inside of him. It exploded from his back and completely engulfed Naruto inside the blast, gouging the very earth from the world as it continued well past Naruto and into the background.

"Naruto!" shouted Gaara and Sakura simultaneously as the sheer magnitude of the attack blasted them backwards.

As the attack passed, Madara was unpleasantly surprised to find an unscathed Naruto holding his left hand out, a strange swirl of air forming a protective barrier around him. "I used to call my power a curse," noted Naruto as he continued to hold his hand out while pulling back his sword arm to prepare for a strike, "but now that I understand it, it is clear that it was actually a gift."

Naruto understood now why he had always killed and absorbed whatever he had touched as a hollow. As a human he had always existed in equilibrium with Kurama. When the nine tailed fox was ripped from him and he died, his soul had instinctively looked for something to fill that hole. The whole had desperately sucked in everything that it could; uncontrollably consuming everything in Naruto's path.

Left incomplete, Naruto was forced to wander the deserts of Hueco Mundo until his soul found completion in Nelliel. Because she was a strong enough soul to withstand the consuming aura, the two had grown close. Because he had loved her before she died, he found the hole in his heart filled. Because of his curse, he had found love and companionship and the pain had transformed into a mighty boon.

However, now that Nelliel was once again a part of him, his consuming aura had returned – only now he had enough power to control it properly.

Puzzled, Madara was about to open his mouth to question Naruto's words when he was cut off by an insanely fast charge by Naruto.

With his free left hand raised, Naruto instantly closed the gap between the two fighters and grabbed Madara's head. His consuming aura pulled against the man as Madara instinctively created a black chakra barrier between the two combatants. But Naruto wasn't finished as he trusted his dress sword forward in a move that he had seen Nelliel perform many times. With its long and slender edge, Naruto was easily able to bring his dress sword to bear against Madara.

The blade barely made contact with Madara, cutting an inch into his chest before the man's Rinnegan pushed Naruto away from him. As Naruto was thrown back Madara brought his staff around and swung it in a wide arc. The process created a large wave of malleable chakra that threatened to engulf Naruto.

"You're fast!" observed Madara with an evil grin, "I look forward to crushing you once again!"

Naruto said nothing as he vaulted over the wave of chakra and solidified the Reiatsu in his feet. Using the very air itself as a springboard, Naruto charged forwards in a surge of speed before slashing outwards at Madara.

Steel met chakra as Madara blocked Naruto's sword with his staff for a fraction of a second. Madara then created a large black rod of chakra in his free hand and slashed upwards at Naruto.

Immediately Naruto pulled his sword into a defensive position and slashed downwards through the rod before reversing his momentum and stabbing upwards into Madara's chest. Black chakra attempted to block the impact of Naruto's stab but the Arrancar still succeeded in running his sword through Madara.

Shocked at his impalement, Madara flinched as horror filled his face. Then he snarled and doused Naruto in a copious amount of the juubi's chakra. "I don't understand where you get your powers!" He cursed as he bathed Naruto in liquid death. "They're nothing like a Shinobi - it's like... Oh."

Suddenly there was another bite of pain and Madara was sent flying backwards. Naruto's sword cut his stomach deeply as Madara was sent backwards. But as Madara skidded to a halt, he couldn't help but smile as he understood the situation. With one hand holding his chest together, understanding dawned on his face.

"So you're the reason the first Infinite Tsukuyomi failed. You died and were able to kill me inside of my own illusion." He noted with a smile on his face while he held his guts together in his stomach, "Now that I know that, I know exactly how to kill you."

"Big words Madara, though I suppose I should thank you for this opportunity - not that it matters; your time in this world is over."

Armed with the remnants of Nelliel's powers, Naruto fought for a strange reason. In the end, he wasn't spurred into action to protect the elemental nations. No, he had given up on the world of the shinobi long ago when he had sworn his love to Nelliel. Today he wasn't fighting for the shinobi or the elemental nations – that dream had died when he finally accepted his death and life with Nelliel.

Today he was fighting to remember Nelliel. Though she would never be with him again, she still protected him. The fact that Naruto carried her sword was proof enough. Nelliel cared about him, and as such, Naruto was fighting Madara because it was Nelliel's goal to support Naruto's goal.

Today, Naruto fought for himself. Today, with Nelliel's powers, Naruto would kill madara with his own hands. He had already defeated the power behind the first Infinite Tsukuyomi; there would never be a second illusionary world.

Naruto charged Madara once more and extended his sword arm. With the tip of his dress sword pointed at Madara, he came mere inches away from the man's right eye when he was stopped in place. All momentum was completely arrested as he found a strong pulling against his throat.

"The Juubi's chakra only works on the living but the Rinnegan works on everything!" taunted Madara. The host of the juubi smiled as he raised his hand to the air. His Rinnegan burned brightly as he twitched his hand downward. Naruto recognized the ninjutsu instantly, for it was the same one that Nagato had used against him all those many years ago.

Unfortunately, knowledge of the technique didn't mean much as immediately Naruto was slammed into the ground mercilessly. The sudden force of the attack created a large crater as Madara lifted his hand again and slammed Naruto into the earth once more.

"You were dead when the first Infinite Tsukuyomi was cast." He noted as he repeated the action, "That's how you slipped past the illusion and that's also why the Juubi's chakra doesn't work on you. You're dead, you just haven't accepted that death."

With one final hand motion, Madara sent Naruto into the ground so hard that he bounced upwards - where upon he was immediately skewered through the chest by Madara's staff. Naruto spat blood as Madara ripped his dress sword out of his hands and tossed it to the ground.

"You got some strange power up from the land of the dead." noted Madara as he leaned in close, "and because of that you were able to end the first Tsukuyomi that I cast. Too bad you're now fighting my full power instead of getting a cheap shot while I maintained the illusion. I can't wait to kill you again and conquer the world that you came fro-"

"Gran Rey Cero!"

Madara jumped backwards in surprise as Naruto created a massive laser of pure spiritual energy. But, despite his immense speed, the cero was far faster than even his Rinnegan could track. It was fortunate that he had all of the durability and rapid regeneration that the Juubi and Hashirama's cells gave him, for he was unable to completely withstand the attack. Part of his face and a large amount of the front of his body melted off like water as Naruto's powerful cero scarred the earth. Had he not been nearly invincible, he surely would have died on the spot.

Freed from Madara's grip, Naruto collapsed to the ground. Wearily he pulled the staff from his chest and tossed it to the ground with a sickening clang. Even though he knew that the attack wouldn't put Madara down for good, it had at least bought him a few seconds to hopefully regenerate his own wounds.

"That really hurt..." commented Madara dryly as he appeared in the crater next to Naruto. Naruto gasped in disbelief as the man appeared no worse for wear despite having his face melted off. "You know, it's impolite to interrupt someone when they're trying to have an evil mastermind monologue."

"Seeping crest of turbidity. Arrogant vessel of lunacy! Boil forth and deny! Grow numb and flicker! Disrupt sleep! Crawling queen of iron! Eternally self-destructing doll of mud! Unite! Repulse! Fill with soil and know your own powerlessness!"

Madara went from dryly smug to completely surprised as massive purplish-black walls of energy came into existence around him. The very time itself seemed to slow down and no matter how he tried he couldn't move out of the walls. Then they closed around him into a massive coffin.

"Hado number ninety - Kurohitsugi."

Hundreds of spears of dark energy formed along the walls as they stabbed inwards. Waves of power buffeted the man trapped inside as the air itself seemingly became darker. For a split second, there was a large amount of pressure; but then it all disappeared.

"You look like you could use a little help Dobe," observed Sasuke arrogantly as he lazily strolled onto the battlefield. Kyoka Suigetsu was resting on his right shoulder as he continued pointing his finger at the coffin. "What were you planning on doing - cutting him to death?"

Naruto simply smiled as he picked himself up off the ground. Slowly "About damn time Teme," he laughed before coughing up blood that came from his rapidly closing wound, "were you trying to pull a hero moment?"

"Oh cut me some slack," apologized Sasuke sarcastically, "I just spent forty years in a chair, I had to stretch a bi-

Sasuke was interrupted when the black coffin exploded outwards, sending a massive shockwave of energy over the landscape. For miles everything except the two teammates was blasted off its feet; and at the very epicenter stood a very disheveled Madara Uchiha.

"That was extremely unpleasant." commented the blasted man as he struggled to keep to his feet. Although the juubi was rapidly healing him, it was obvious that it would still take a long time. For one thing, his entire right arm had been eradicated from the elbow down and it was dripping rotted flesh by the handful.

"I should have figured that that wouldn't work." sighed Sasuke as he dropped his sword to the ground where it shattered into nothingness, "Honestly, you're worse than that Ichigo kid; you're like the cumulative sum of everything that's wrong with end game bosses."

Taking his eyes off Madara, Naruto just turned and stared at Sasuke. "Teme... What the hell does that mean?"

"You've never played video games or read comic books?" asked Sasuke as he lifted a single eyebrow in disbelief, "Wow I guess I was actually wrong in one of my predictions. Have you never played Final Fantasy?"

"MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Their conversation was cut short as a massive meteor began to careen down from the sky. It had appeared out of nowhere and already it was only a few thousand feet from Naruto and Sasuke. In front of them Madara was cackling like a maniac, intent on destroying his two enemies with extreme prejudice.

"...see?" asked Sasuke as though he was pointing out the obvious as he directed his hand to the meteor. "Completely bullshit. I mean really, a meteor? Where the hell did he manage to find a meteor? It makes zero se-"

"Not now Teme!"

Naruto leapt into action as he ascended to the heavens and slammed into the meteor. With a concerted heave he focused all the strength in his body and slowly reinforced himself as he pushed against the meteor.

Slowly but surely the rock came to a halt, the sudden and completely ridiculous attack thankfully nullified a few hundred feet from the earth.

Naruto felt like the Atlas from the Greek legends. Just like the myth, Naruto carried the weight of a small world on his shoulders as he gently touched down on the ground. It was picturesque as Naruto slowly lifted the rock off his shoulders and set it to the ground where it came to a gentle rest.

Naruto's instincts twitched as he set the rock down. In a burst of Sonido the Arrancar leaped into the sky and onto the boulder before vaulting into a standing position in midair. Just as he moved away, Madara emerged from the shadows and stabbed where Naruto had been just a fraction of a second ago.

Behind madara, lying lifeless on the ground in a pool of his blood, was Sasuke Uchiha. The shinigami mastermind had been run through with his own blade. It was unfortunate but while Naruto had been busy with the meteor Madara had used the time to cut down Sasuke with extreme prejudice.

Naruto called to his sword and leapt at Madara as his blade reappeared in his hand. The long and slender dress sword seemed to dance through the air as Naruto caught it while closing the gap. Madara was already standing ready to defend himself as he held his staff at the ready in his one good hand.

Steel fluttered through the sky as Naruto employed a fencing mastery that he knew wasn't his. Nelliel's experience served him well as he jabbed forwards repeatedly in a hundred strikes. He used the tip of his dress sword as a fine spear, determined to impale Madara upon his blade.

Energy seemed to glow along his blade as Madara was forced onto the defensive. The man's staff twirled with incredible speed as he deflected each and every one of the strikes; sparks flying in the process.

Controlled actions devolved into instinct as Naruto continued to press his advantage. Thanks to Nelliel's knowledge and power, he knew exactly where to strike; at one point successfully cutting off a finger from Madara's hand before forming a spinning cero in his free hand and throwing it at Madara from point blank range.

Never once did he stop as his actions blurred together in a mad storm of violence.

Naruto found that his skills in combat were strange and nostalgic. He had never known how to do any of this as an Arrancar. But when he reabsorbed Nelliel he suddenly knew everything as the hole in his soul reopened. He could even feel the very essence of the Juubi calling to him through his insatiable consuming aura. It was as though Naruto was supposed to claim it as his own. It stuck in his mind and he could feel it as it moved around inside of Madara.

It felt like the juubi was crying out in agony as it was chained to Madara.

The knowledge of that allowed Naruto to stay one step ahead of Madara as he created another spiraling cero and shoved it into Madara's face from point blank range. His spiraling cero carved into black malleable chakra that Madara had barely managed to create in time before erupting into a shockwave.

There was a massive explosion as both men were sent backwards. Naruto noted with a useless clarity that Madara had somehow managed to force the majority of the blast back upon Naruto as the explosion engulfed both fighters. Both Madara and Naruto flipped in the air, but Naruto was sent tumbling along the ground while Madara landed safely on his feet.

But the second Madara came to a stop Sasuke's blade cut him in two.

* * *

Sasuke smirked with an arrogant grin as his complete hypnosis allowed him to slip inside of Madara's guard effortlessly. Even the Rinnegan was unable to escape Sasuke's illusion and that allowed him to set up for his finishing blow. Sasuke knew that even with Kyoka Suigetsu, he would only have one true attempt at finishing off the insane host of the juubi.

Fortunately, Naruto had risen to the occasion and immediately worked himself into Sasuke's plan without even needing a prompting.

While Madara was busy being distracted by Naruto, Sasuke replaced himself with an illusion and easily slipped into the shadows while Madara brutally murdered the illusion. Then Sasuke simply waited for an opportunity to end the fight in a single blow.

Kyoka Suigetsu sang as it severed Madara's spine below his ribcage and eviscerated him effortlessly

"It ends now you bastard!" shouted Sasuke in a rage uncharacteristic of Sosuke Aizen but characteristic of an Uchiha.

Sasuke had waited an eternity for this moment. Madara had tormented him within the Infinite Tsukuyomi but in the end it was Sasuke that had gotten the last laugh. Together Naruto and Sasuke had ended the genjutsu that created reality and now they would prevent the man from ever attempting to harm the world again.

Sasuke lifted his sword into the air as he spared Madara no time to acclimate himself to the situation. Even as half a body, Madara was a deadly adversary and Sasuke would spare him no chance. Sasuke only had one opportunity, and he took his strike with perfect accuracy.

But as he brought his sword down upon the man's head, he couldn't help but gasp in shock as Madara simply smiled. Sasuke urged his body forwards as quickly as he could but it was too late.

With one hand, Madara finished forming the hand seals for his ninjutsu and smiled.

"Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu"

* * *

Naruto slowly picked himself up off the ground when he heard those words. His eyes were on the body of Madara as the host of the ten tailed beast cast his ninjutsu.

"Gedō: Rinne Tensei no Jutsu"

Naruto's entire body burned as he felt the pains of rebirth. The world went white as he gasped and struggled against the pull of life. But, try as he might, he was helpless as his body became bathed in golden light.

His Arrancar body faded away into dust as he collapsed back to the ground in his seventeen year old body. Bone mask evaporated and his stature shrank as he was forced back into his human body.

He could feel Nelliel's powers leaving him as he desperately fought the resurrection. He didn't care if he had to kill himself again to halt the resurrection process, but Nelliel's powers were the only thing that Naruto still had of his beloved green haired centaur. Nelliel's powers were the last vestiges of her promise to always protect Naruto, and he swore that he would keep her promise as he desperately fought to hold onto them.

Naruto needed her. Naruto needed to feel Nelliel inside of him, for she was what gave him the strength to continue on.

_"I will always love you..."_

But it was no use. Naruto's mind snapped as the last of the powers left him and he was completely reborn as a human.

And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

... And so he became himself...

As he was always meant to be.

* * *

Naruto didn't know how much time he spent lying on the ground. Physically he was fine; as fine as a healthy seventeen year old ninja could be. His newly reformed body had not a single physical pain and it effortlessly carried the chakra throughout his body that he needed to live.

But mentally...

But emotionally...

"She's gone..." he whispered to himself in disbelief. His eyes were on the sky above him, the many stars seeming to blink in and out of existence without a single care to his troubles. He envied the stars as he watched them, for they were unthinking balls of flame.

Yes, the stars were great and glorious and powerful, but they also didn't have a mind that had the capability of suffering.

How could he continue?

How could he fight Madara?

He had no powers; they were all Nelliel's powers that Naruto had stolen from her. As a hollow he had been worthless until he had absorbed Nelliel, but even as an Arrancar it was Nelliel that had done the vast majority of the fighting. She protected him, even when it costed Nelliel her life, she protected him.

If Nelliel were here, she would be able to effortlessly defeat Madara. She wouldn't have given the man any opportunity to make a single move, let alone use the heavenly life technique. But she wasn't here; there was no trace of her save for the memories that Naruto had of her.

Naruto knew that Madara was still alive. After all, it took far more than simply slicing him in half to kill Madara. No doubt he would live and reattach his body together before coming to kill Naruto.

And there wasn't anything that the blond shinobi could do about it. Naruto was simply a human. Against a god he stood no chance. Even if, by some miracle, Naruto managed to win today he still lost Nelliel for good. There was no point in continuing on.

With a tear in his eyes, Naruto remembered Nelliel as he waited for the end.

* * *

It came slower than Naruto had expected. The blond watched absently as Madara slowly picked himself off the ground and recklessly threw the reincarnated Sasuke like a rag doll. Then the man turned to Naruto and slowly shambled over.

But Naruto observed that Madara's hair was white. Apparently it had turned white just like Nagato's hair had turned white; clearly a repercussion from using the samsara of heavenly life technique.

"Naruto..." the man gasped as he stumbled forwards. "You have forced me far beyond my means. You should rejoice, for now your soul will become one with mine."

Madara had forcefully resurrected both Naruto and Sasuke to prolong the fight. It was a move of desperation that the man would have hoped to avoid because, while it had stripped both Naruto and Sasuke of their powers, it left Madara on death's door.

Indeed, Madara was nearing his own death in his reincarnated body. Even as the host of the Shinju tree, the price of the rebirth technique was a person's life. Only the tailed beast chakra inside of him was keeping him alive. But the Shinju tree inside of him was rebelling against Madara's weakened body. The very same chakra that had made him nearly invulnerable was now burning against him and destroying his body.

Madara's soul was burned out and his body was failing because of that. With his weakened soul, he was no longer able to subjugate the Shinju tree. Only by stealing someone else's soul and subjugating that through the rinnegan's human path could Madara hope to continue living. Madara had to steal someone else's soul and use it to reinforce his black spirit.

That was why he was shambling over to Naruto, for in his weakened state, only Naruto - who had given up - would be both strong and easy to domineer. Sasuke would have resisted, so Madara had thrown him away instead of attempting to steal his soul.

Madara tripped and stumbled mere feet away from Naruto as his body gave out beneath him. Still, Madara crawled before placing his hand on top of Naruto's heart and pulling upwards.

"Your soul is mine!" cackled Madara maniacally as he pulled on Naruto's soul. In a few short moments he would once again be invincible.

Naruto knew that he needed to resist as Madara struggled to pull out his soul – but he simply couldn't find the will power needed to keep on living.

It wasn't that Madara had trouble fighting against Naruto's spirit. The only problem came from the lack of strength that the man had.

Naruto felt his consciousness slipping away as Madara continued to pull. There was no point in living without Nelliel, without her he would rather die.

And this time, his death would be the complete obliteration of his soul. He felt despair but, above all the sadness, he welcomed the end. For a life without Nelliel was not worth living.

It was the end. And soon he would rejoin Nelliel in nothingness.

And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

_"Don't give up!"_

Naruto jerked to life as he heard Nelliel's voice in his mind. Confusion and surprise cleared the sadness and surrender as Naruto's soul was pulled back into his body.

"Give me your soul!" wheezed Madara forcefully as he pulled harder against Naruto.

Naruto clenched his teeth as he fought to retain control of his soul. Naruto knew that he was insane, but he had clearly heard Nelliel calling to him as he surrendered. She spurred him into action, forcing him into action.

"_Don't give up!"_ she called out to him. _"Don't give up!"_

"… Nelliel…"

Naruto could feel her inside of him, spurring him into action. He could feel the very essence of her soul welling up inside of him. But Madara was trying to pull her out of him.

She was begging Naruto not to give up; therefore he absolutely could not give up.

Slowly Naruto completely secured his own soul and then began pulling on Madara's soul. The thinnest threads of the juubi began to soak outwards along with Madara's soul as the two fought for domination of their souls.

"Give me your soul!" cursed Madara as he pulled with all of his might. The fight became a tug of war of wills as neither side willingly gave up their soul. It was a battle for existence and the Juubi itself as well as the world was at stake.

"Give me Nelliel!" shouted Naruto angrily as he pulled against Madara. Slowly he gained ground as the weakened Madara lost control of his body.

With his body shutting down from the heavenly samsara of life, Madara could no longer resist Naruto's relentless pulling upon his soul. There was a sudden snap as the souls of both Madara and the juubi were wrenched free of his body.

Madara's soul fluttered up into the air before puffing out of existence.

Naruto's body absorbed the juubi.

_"I will always love you Naruto!"_ screamed Nelliel from inside of Naruto as fire filled his body. There was a pop, and then she was gone – again returned to the very fibers that created his soul. Naruto knew that he would never see her again.

He could feel the overwhelming power of the juubi inside of him. It called to him as though he was its rightful master. It was willing to be reshaped into any form that was pleasing to Naruto.

Naruto felt omnipotent and indestructible. He felt stronger than he had felt even with Nelliel's powers.

No doubt the original nine tailed beasts knew that Naruto was the man that the sage of the six paths had talked to them about. They clearly were willing to exist together inside of Naruto, so they didn't fight him and willingly merged as a ten tailed beast.

But Naruto didn't want to be the omnipotent host of the ten tailed beast.

He just wanted Nelliel back.

Blackness overtook him as Naruto lost consciousness through the pain of his newfound powers.

And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

... And so he fell...

... And so he ceased to be...

* * *

"Naruto!" cried Nelliel as she cradled him in her arms. The Shinobi was barely alive as his powers left him; powers willingly given up for one selfish wish.

Nelliel's body glowed with a divine light as she reformed around Naruto. To anyone gazing upon her, she was an empyreal archangel descended from the kingdom of heaven. She was radiant beauty that glowed with the powers that had once belonged to the Shinju tree – reshaped and reformed into a woman who very dearly cared for the man that she held in her hands.

Nelliel wasn't sure how she was here, but she knew that Naruto needed her.

After she had died, her soul became one with Naruto. There was a blissful emptiness that she had lingered in for what felt like a wonderful eternity. But Naruto had desperately called out to her.

He needed her and, no matter how much Nelliel had tried to stay in the blissful emptiness, she knew that she had to answer the call. So she answered and in Naruto's darkest hour he found the strength to continue on. Through Nelliel one blond shinobi had found the courage not to give up and because of that he had saved the world that he had promised to protect oh so many years ago.

Slowly Naruto opened his eyes at the call of his angel. There, through a beautiful haze, stood his Nelliel.

Beautiful face, worry filled eyes, long green hair that extended forever.

Lithe and long body, love filled eyes, blemish free skin.

Pure, unmatchable power, compressed into a tiny and glorious corporeal form.

No mask, no clothing, completely nude and showing off her curvaceous body to the world.

"You need to put some clothes on..." whispered Naruto teasingly. Nelliel's response was to pull him up and give him the strongest, most back-breakingly powerful embrace that Naruto had ever felt. Divine light glowed around them as a silk dress came into existence around Nelliel's body.

Naruto didn't know how it was possible, but he defeated Madara. The elemental nations would continue to live on.

And he had his Nelliel back. That was all that mattered.

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* * *

**(A/N) What a long (yet sadly short) road this has been. If you've stuck with me through this story, thank you. You have no idea what it means to have received so many positive reviews that encouraged me.**

**From the beginning I always planned on having the story end this way. The overarching theme was actually thought up from the top of a fifth story balcony staring down at the world below while contemplating life. Three days ago, on that very same balcony, a random stranger had jumped from the ledge to his death. He was 20 years old. I began to wonder if there would have been any way to save that person, if just being there and supporting him would have resulted in his still being alive today. But I didn't know him, and life has proven to be very short. While I was thinking about that, I had the idea to memorialize this memory in story form - and the spiral of descent was born.**

**The themes that connect all of the chapters together is life, lifelines, and acceptance. There is a geometric crapton of symbolism and character design and, while I won't outright tell you them, I would like to make a special mention of the title of this story. The Spiral of Descent represents Naruto's struggle to not give up. How many times has he contemplated suicide in this story? How many times has his world spiraled into hell, where the only thing keeping him together is the lifeline that Nelliel represents? For me, Naruto was that stranger that had no life line and jumped to his death. He could have been so much if someone had reached out and grabbed him.**

**But that's an extremely heavy theme. Maybe I got that across, maybe it got lost in translation. Regardless, thanks for reading and staying with me(keep scrolling down)**

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* * *

** EPILOGUE**

"I wouldn't put too much thought into it," dismissed the sixth hokage Sasuke Uchiha as he leaned back in his chair and propped his feet up on the desk that he was proud to say belonged to him.

"But Naruto hasn't been seen in months!" protested his assistant Sakura Haruno as she paced the floor worryingly, "We just got a sighting of Naruto in Iron country and you're not even going to go after him?"

Sasuke just smiled and shrugged his shoulders. "I'm sure he'll be back eventually, he needs to unwind a bit..."

"But it's been four years!"

Sasuke just grinned and shrugged his shoulders once more. Naruto was off living his life with Nelliel while Sasuke was busy living his life as the sixth hokage. Unlike Naruto, Sasuke's goals had never really changed. He still strived to create a system that was worthy of honoring his brother Itachi, but changes like that didn't happen quickly.

He would know, he had spent thousands of years planning his fight against Madara

Still, life as the sixth hokage was surprisingly a little more difficult than he imagined it to be. While Sasuke had claimed to be shocked when lady Tsunade announced him as her successor last year, he had actually been anticipating it for quite a long time. Even though he was a human again, Sasuke still had his talent for planning hundreds of steps in advance - and it came in handy far more times than Sasuke could anticipate.

But damn, that paperwork was murder.

"Sakura, do you remember when you two chased after me and I didn't want to come back?" asked Sasuke lazily as he tilted his hat forwards to block the lights. It was nap time.

"Yes, what does that have to do with anything?"

"Naruto will come back when he's good and ready to come back. Until then, don't bother."

* * *

Hundreds of miles away from Konoha, Nelliel laughed as Naruto chased her down the snowy slopes of iron country. The two companions were rapidly descending the terrain on a pair of stolen shields that were being used as sleds.

"You can't catch me Naruto!" taunted Nelliel as she leaned to one side in order to steer her sled away from a tree.

"Watch me!" she heard Naruto shout back over the wind.

Nelliel wasn't sure what she was. She had been a hollow, a part of Naruto's soul, an arrancar, and now she was - according to Naruto - the reincarnation of the most powerful creature to ever walk the earth. But she didn't feel powerful; she felt like Nelliel Tu Odelschwanck.

Sure, Nelliel could crush mountains with her will. She could feel near omnipotent power running through her veins and she often had to be careful not to accidentally break anything by using too much force against it. Her dress sword could create massive shockwaves of endless destruction whenever she wanted it to and she could transform her body without any effort.

When she needed to, she would raise her sword to fight – but only to protect. There had already been enough violence in the elemental nations to last one life time. Eventually there would be strife again, but for the foreseeable future life was good. The world didn't need her to protect it, so she was free to do whatever she wanted.

And she didn't want to do anything other than enjoy her life with her Naruto. She wanted to live as a human beside a human, enjoying life and loving the person she was with. This was their next great adventure together – just like their many excursions into the human world when they had been Arrancar.

That was why they were sledding down the mountain at breakneck speed.

Her green hair flowed in the wind as she smiled with all the joy of a child on Christmas. Throughout all of Nelliel's many hundreds of years of life, she had never been happier. Never again would anything separate Nelliel and Naruto, for now Nelliel was strong enough to always protect him.

Nelliel had once hoped that she would be able to live peacefully with Naruto after their war as Arrancar was over.

For Nelliel Uzumaki, her dream had come true.


End file.
